Tarkov Added a Battle Pass in Arena and I Don't Know How to Feel About It

(Intro)

Tarkov has introduced its first ever battle pass into Arena and there is a lot more going on here than I initially thought there would be. From new cosmetics for your character, to weapon camos being added, this pass has large implications across not only Arena, but potentially EFT as well. The patch notes are kind of overwhelming with how much information they provide us for not only how the battle pass works, but all the adjustments made to Arena itself. Patch 0.3 for Arena is also huge on its own, without even mentioning the battle pass. The fact they are still so committed to the product is commendable, and honestly, depending on who you are and who you ask, these cosmetics might be what get people to come back and check out the game if they already own it, or might get people to purchase it for the first time. There’s a lot to unpack with this patch, so let’s break it down, go over the notes, the battle pass, and how this is going to potentially effect the rest of the development for both Arena and EFT moving forward.

(The Battle Pass)

The battle pass itself feels like pretty much any other pass from a modern game. It contains over one-hundred tiers with a variety of different mostly cosmetic items that can be earned through playing the game and completing quests that provide experience. For this pass, all items are free and can be earned. Leveling up in the pass grants you "battle points”; a new currency that is primarily used to unlock items in the pass. Battle points can also be earned by converting a certain number of other currencies in the game, either rubles, GP coins, or even Lega medals. The system is fairly straight forward. This pass will run for two months with BSG potentially extending that time if people want it. Scrolling through, most items are exactly what they said; already existing items with different paint schemes, camos or colors on them that provide some fresh variety for how you can gear up your PMC. And for the most part, the new camos and paint schemes aren’t too outlandish; there’s no neon rainbow moving effects, or anything crazy like that. But what you might expect to see in this universe with a bunch of dudes who are bored and want to express themselves a little bit more with what they wear. I would suggest you go through and look at the pass yourself or screenshots others have made showing off all the items in the pass, because for the rest of this section, it will be dedicated to the battle pass existing itself, not the items in it.

It’s crazy to me that for years, BSG was steadfast in their desire to never add a mechanic like this into EFT. But I suppose they never ruled it out for Arena. I digress, a battle pass in anything related to EFT is something I can’t say is surprising, given what has happened over the last, I’d say two years. Times are much different than they were when BSG was saying they won’t add this stuff. Their development costs are much higher, their studio much larger and the world itself is a much different place. These aren’t excuses, however; just understandings that this industry is not the same it once was. As much as I really don’t like falling down this slippery slope, I get it from their perspective; this first pass is most likely a test. Since everything is free, we can just play and earn as much as we can in two months. The language they used in the patch notes makes it a little tough to figure out if each battle pass will stick around once a new one comes out, or if there is going to be “FOMO” and you won’t be able to earn these items once they’re gone. One-line in the notes that hints to the latter unfortunately, is this: “We will announce the end of the battle pass a few weeks in advance.” That alludes to me this pass will go away after those two months and will be replaced with a brand new one, which is the opposite of how they should approach any kind of pass system. Games like Helldivers, and Halo have passes that don’t ever expire; you can always return to them and finish those older passes should you desire any items in them. It’s the most consumer-friendly thing to do in this day and age. And again, since this first one is free, I imagine the passes that follow will not be entirely free again. There will most likely be paid version with better items that can only be unlocked if you bought the pass. These are assumptions I am making as a consumer, but I can’t see them constantly putting in all this effort for free stuff and new cosmetic items without having us pay for a portion of it, at least. And who's to say this kind of stuff won’t creep into EFT proper? We still don’t truly know the end goal for that game, and now that Arena has a battle pass, it would not surprise me either EFT gets its own version, or they start incorporating items in the Arena pass specifically for EFT.

Funny thing is, if you are paying really close attention to the items in the pass, the already have. The second item in the pass, is a locked crate that the only way to unlock the contents of is to use Ref to transfer it over to EFT and unlock it using the workbench. Which, by the way, has now been made easier. Previously, you had to have workbench level two in order to have the crafts necessary to unlock Arena crates. That has now changed to workbench level one. Meaning it is now easier to open those crates regardless of how you acquire them. And they only take one minute to unlock instead of five, which is a minute change in the grand scheme of things, but since people are going to be earning these more often now, they figured might as well make it easier for people to use them. And while having all the crates are not pay-to-win, it is free gear, items, and money for your EFT account. They even added a super rare crate in the battle pass that can get you lucrative items in EFT like TerraGroup Blue folders, bitcoins, LEDXs and more. Obviously, they want use to engage with this system. They have a lot of things players have been asking for. And instead of giving it to us through unique quests or unlock conditions, it was all put into a battle pass. Which begs the simple question, why?

(Why this method of unlocking items)

This is, again simply more speculation on my part. I truly don’t get why they chose a battle pass for these items. Maybe it was ease of implementing it into the game, perhaps they in fact do want to monetize future passes with highly sought after items. I get the infatuation with the idea itself; considering pretty much every multiplayer game these days has one, why not add it to our game? Is what I’m assuming their thought process was. But there are some questions I still have with it: how easy is it to level the pass? How easy is it to earn the new currency? How many of the cosmetic items are going to carry over into EFT? Perhaps at one point, these items were going to be unlocked via more quests from Ref or something but considering the sheer number of items in the pass and how much new customization there is, that idea if it was ever floated around was most likely shut down quickly. I’m honestly still kind of blown away the thing is in the game; it seemed like not too long ago the tune from BSG was no micro-transactions and no battle passes. But that obviously isn’t the case anymore. Who knows what else will be added into this game that will be monetized. But one thing is for sure, it most likely will involve Ref, because his role in EFT is becoming bigger than any of us were anticipating.

(Ref is very important now)

Ref was initially this weird novel idea that was half-baked. The guy that runs the Arena working essentially as a transfer for items and money between the two modes. He has already gone through a couple iterations with how much experience his quests in arena provide as well as all the new ones he’s been getting. They adjusted pretty much every single quest he has that isn’t an arena daily or weekly to be easier and provide better rewards. And considering further into the notes it sounds like Ref will actually be coming to PvE at some point in the future, his role in the game is only getting bigger and more important. They want us to really engage with this guy. He is slowly not growing out of his awkward phase of being this weird middleman that can move some items around, to a integral part of your day-to-day Tarkov operations. Even his inventory in EFT is becoming exceedingly powerful. We’ll have to have another conversation about Ref entirely but just know if you don’t have him either unlocked or leveled up, you need to do so. His barters are borderline broken with what he can offer you.

(Outro)

Arena adding a battle pass is probably the second biggest change it has received since we have been able to make our own loadouts. Patch 0.3 changed all the values of items in your loadouts so it’s harder to run a lot of powerful gear and ammo, but on top of that, introduced a fully free battle pass for two months. Again, we don’t know what’s going to happen going forward. Depending on how popular this mode ends up becoming, how far the average person gets into the pass, they will be paying attention to all of this very closely and making adjustments to what their future plans are, and that concerns me somewhat. I am glad we have more options now than ever before to make our PMCs look exactly how we want them too. I still am unsure about my feelings on weapon camos, but they aren’t a bad thing at the very least, just an... interesting choice. But either way, Tarkov has its first battle pass that we don’t have to pay for luckily, but I can’t be so certain that will always be the case. Hopefully people are happy with all the new gear we can acquire and equip, and they can come up with some really cool looking drip. Because remember, no matter what happens in Tarkov, you either drip or drown, bear-man. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on the battle pass being added to Arena and EFT, the patch as a whole for arena, should this game have this mechanic in it at all and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the dangerous slippery slope we have been sliding for years, coming to a head in this most recent update. I hope to see you in future ones.