Helldivers 2’s Warbonds are a pleasant divergence from the usual battle pass

The game-as-a-service model can all too easily feel to players as though the title they love has been twisted into some sort of machine designed to extract money from them. While some are free-to-play, many games that had an upfront cost at launch have been irrevocably altered and require players to invest in each battle pass lest they be left behind in terms of gear, lore, or general progression.

With Helldivers 2, Arrowhead Game Studios did what many would believe publishers would never do: it built a monetization system that doesn’t try to rinse players for as much of their hard-earned cash as possible. The battle pass progression system feels satisfying, an amazing compliment to the core gameplay loop, and it even makes me want to spend a few bucks on something just so I can support its ongoing development. I’m not alone in this way of thinking either.

We’re all thanking the developer for Helldivers 2’s battle pass system Screenshot by Destructoid So far, there have been three Helldivers 2 battle passes, which are called Warbonds. The first was available to all players as part of buying the game, and the second had to be purchased separately or as part of the Deluxe Edition. The newly released third Warbond, Cutting Edge, has players praising the design of the system and thanking the developer for allowing them to get it so easily.

Battle passes and season passes are pretty easy to understand these days because they’re a core part of the design of many of our favorite MMOs. Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Apex Legends all feature some variation of this product. As you play the game over the course of every season, you’ll earn progress towards the 100 or so ranks of its battle pass. Sometimes, you get a boost for buying early, but that’s not always the case.

The thing that hurts the most with these battle passes is that they only offer a few cosmetics that really feel worth it. For me, it’s always the animated ones, whether that’s a mask dripping with blood in Dead by Daylight or the Geralt skin in Fortnite. The trouble with all of these is that they’re time-limited. If you don’t complete them within a set number of weeks or months, you’ll lose out on the rewards you don’t earn.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have the time to sit and grind out 100 battle pass ranks in a game. I like to bounce between a few, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hit rank 100 and unlock everything in the battle pass I purchased. A few of these passes, and I really only do mean one or two, don’t require you to buy them upfront. By that, I mean there’s no XP boost benefit to buying the pass at the season’s start.

A great example is Dead by Daylight‘s Rift Passes. You can unlock every rank without spending a penny, and there’s no incentive to pay for the premium content in the Tome until you’ve unlocked the rank you’re eyeing. Then, when you do invest in the currency required for the Rift Pass, you also earn slightly more than you spend back. This encourages me to try to complete every Rift Pass, at least to the point where I make my money back in-game.

In Helldivers 2, Warbonds stack, which works well not only from a gameplay perspective but also thematically. They’re pages of products your Helldiver can purchase to help pump more money into the fight for Super Earth while getting a decent weapon, armor set, or cosmetic item in return. The best part is that they’re never going to disappear.

Halo Infinite does something very similar. You can work through its battle passes in any order you want and jump into them whenever you’re ready. They aren’t removed, so there’s no need to feel rushed when getting through them. You can just aim for the cosmetic you want next and work towards it.

Warbonds are purchased using Super Credits, a premium currency that can be acquired using real-world money or found in-game. You can pick up a few if you explore a map in missions, but Arrowhead Game Studios also made them available in the game’s first Warbond. This means you can use the in-game currency earned by doing nothing more than playing to unlock enough Super Credits to buy the next Warbond, and the pattern continues from there.

I love this system because it offers a great sense of progression. By slowly unlocking equipment through each Warbond, you’re gaining a new understanding of the game and upgrading your Helldiver to be slightly better each time. With that said, you can still use the gear you want and flaunt the meta if it doesn’t match your play style.

I’m eager to unlock new gear every time I complete a mission. It doesn’t matter from which Warbond, because they’ll all be around forever. You’re not forced to play unnaturally to maximize efficiency, you can just play how you want and enjoy every part of the game without it feeling forced.

The Warbond progression system in Helldivers II makes my time feel respected. Yes, there’s an opportunity to buy access to premium content early if I want it, but it’s the fact that I get to decide what I love most. The system also lends itself to the current economic climate. With recessions and cost of living crises worldwide, a form of entertainment that isn’t going to add another regular bill is a welcome change that’s deserving of the praise players give it.