After announcing its intention to implement the planned subscription system for H1Z1‘s Battle Royale mode, Daybreak Games has decided to delay doing so due to players’ feedback.
On Twitter yesterday, Daybreak president John Smedley revealed that the company would soon be adding a monthly pass allowing unlimited access to Battle Royale. Currently, the game provides free access to Battle Royale, but it was known that it would eventually become a premium mode that required either a real-world money fee or a ticket that could be earned in-game.
“[W]e’ve decided to offer a monthly pass for BR for $6.99 (699 SC),” Smedley tweeted. “It’s coming in the next few days. We are seeing much higher usage of BR and we’re very excited about it and wanted to offer an alternative to event tickets.”
With the game still being in early access and players–who paid for the game–effectively serving as QA testers for Daybreak, fans were understandably frustrated with the news. As GameSpot’s early access review noted last month, the game is far from complete.
In response to the outcry, Smedley announced on Reddit that Daybreak (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) will hold off on implementing the monthly pass.
“We’ve listened to your feedback. It came through loud and clear,” he wrote. “From our perspective we’ve been really super clear about our plans from even before day 1 regarding this. What’s also clear though is that you expect more from us in terms of quality level so that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll focus on bugs, awesome new stuff and adding a ton of features to BR and our main game to make you feel like you’re more than happy to pay for it. Only then will we charge for it.”
Battle Royale is a mode inspired by the Arma mod of the same name. It amounts to a last-man-standing multiplayer mode where players compete to survive in an increasingly limited area (poison gas gradually works its way in from the outside). For many players, it’s the definitive mode in H1Z1 as it currently exists.
H1Z1 entered early access back in January, but does not currently have a final release date. It’s available on PC, with a PS4 version planned for the future.