‘Gears of War 4’ Hits in October, But It’s Season Pass Time Already

  Gaming used to be so easy. You’d cruise on over to your buddy’s place after school, get your Super Mario Kart or Street Fighter II or Streets of Rage on, a nostalgiatastic good time was had by all. Their ma would cook for you, you’d go upstairs and ogle their older brother’s Playboys, you’d pretend that you totally weren’t lusting after their older sister… it was a simpler, happier time.  

These days, video games are a goddamn minefield. There’s bitching about DLC, season passes, free-to-play games and other dastardly and bastardly business practises everywhere. It seems that, in the last couple decades, these guys have come up with a million new ways of getting at our cashtacular. 

Take an ogle at Gears of War 4, for instance. The hype train for this one is just kicking into gear, with cinematic trailers and first gameplay footage doing the rounds as we speak. But nuts to all that. Here’s what really matters: the $50 season pass that’s coming our way. Gotta start hawking that season pass, about six months before release.

On Monday, Xbox Wire announced that the standard and ultimate editions of the game are now available for pre-order. There’s a pre-order exclusive extra, natch, (‘fans who pre-order either edition of Gears of War 4 will receive the pre-order exclusive Vintage Del Gear Pack featuring a Vintage Del character model, emblem, two Vintage weapon skins and a special Vintage Del bounty as an added bonus’) because of course there freaking is. They also confirmed what’s coming our way in the season pass:

‘Includes exclusive Vintage VIP Pack featuring Vintage JD and two Vintage weapon skins, permanent access to 24 additional DLC maps (two per month for a year) for private play on dedicated servers, an exclusive Developer Playlist that grants access to new maps, modes, and features that can be tested prior to broad release and six Gear Packs (which unlock character and weapon skins, emblems, equipment and boosts).’

As I say, that’s $49.99 bought individually, or it’s included as part of said ultimate edition of the game.

Hit the link for a closer look at what’s coming.