Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is here. I have a physical Age of Calamity cartridge in my Nintendo Switch right now, which makes this about as official as it can get. Yet, so far, Nintendo has been silent about whether or not this game will have any sort of season pass.

Keep in mind that a season pass was announced for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before the game even launched, despite the fact that we didn’t know what was going to be in it until more than a month after the game came out.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate took the same approach: the first Fighters Pass was announced before the game launched, though we didn’t know what would be in that until later (the Piranha Plant DLC was announced shortly before Ultimate launched, but that wasn’t part of the Fighter Pass).

It’s pretty common for season passes to roll out alongside game launches these days, which gives publishers a chance to release absurdly overpriced bundles to sell on launch day. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity actually did get a Deluxe Edition (called the Treasure Box and released exclusively in Japan), but that came without a season pass.

At this point, then, it’s safe to assume there won’t be a season pass, right?

Well, don’t be so hasty. There was a digital pre-order bonus (the Lucky Ladle) and a bonus for having a Breath of the Wild save on your Switch (the Training Sword), and Nintendo hinted that these might go on sale as paid DLC later on. So, there are talks of post-launch DLC, even though this is all pretty vague.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

So will Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity get a season pass later on? It’s hard to say. I have a feeling that Nintendo is gauging interest before committing to anything. Remember that the original Hyrule Warriors for Wii U (released in August of 2014) eventually got a season pass (called the Hero of Hyrule pack), and then it got a second season pass after Hyrule Warriors Legends (the 3DS version) released in 2016. And the original Wii U game also had a season-pass-less Treasure Box edition, meaning Age of Calamity is on track to repeat some of the previous game’s marketing strategy.

Nintendo simply treats the Hyrule Warriors sub-franchise differently than its true first-party titles. The only thing we can do is wait and see, but I have a feeling that if the game sells well (and it seems like it’s selling really well), a season pass is inevitable, even if it ends up being a year or two late.

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