There is a VIP room in Gears of War: Judgement made exclusive to Season Pass owners. This is a problem because it segregates the online community. Season Pass owners have no reason to check out regular lobbies due to the bonuses they receive while playing in the VIP lobby. In the VIP room, Season Pass owners receive double XP, and they get to play on regular and DLC maps. They keyword here being regular.
In most games with a Season Pass service, special lobbies are usually reserved for the latest DLC map pack – not here, not in this game. As more and more people pick up the Season Pass for Gears of War: Judgement, the less of a reason they have to check out regular lobbies. This reduces the amount of players who are available in regular lobbies and it also creates an unnecessary reason for people to pick up the Season Pass. Gamers will have to spend a lot more money just to have an audience to play with. Looking towards the future, Non-Season Pass owners who pick up a specific DLC will probably be put into a separate DLC lobby, further separating gamers from playing together;
1 lobby for DLC-less, non-season pass owners
1 lobby for DLC owners
1 lobby for Season Pass owners (get all released DLC but will still play in the VIP room [VIP room supports DLC maps] due to double XP bonus)
These are 3 different lobbies and this even counting the different game modes the game has to offer which will further split things up. Offering a Season Pass of some sorts is now a common practice for multi player and even some single player games in recent time. However, creating artificial barriers like this does not bode well for a thriving community many developers and publishers are trying to center around their video game.
The new OverRun mode promises to mix things up in Gears of War: Judgement but so does the new VIP room
