The Coalition studio has just posted an update on the official Gears 5 website on how players will earn content in the game. It even includes a "TL:DR" summary: "Gear Packs are gone. So is Season Pass. You can earn exclusive customization." The developers say that they listened to players, knowing that earning content is something that many of them care deeply about. Gears 5 aims to be a player-first experience when it comes to in-game content, so The Coalition is endeavoring to eliminate whatever may hamper the player's enjoyment in that sense.

No Season Pass

No Gear Packs

DLC Maps are free for matchmaking and Private Play

Exclusive earnable content in the all-new Tour of Duty system

All store purchases are direct, no RNG so you always know what you will get

The Tour of Duty system is a battle pass type of system with Daily Challenges and seasonal Medals to rank up and earn customization content, including character skins. Players will know exactly what they must do to earn each specific customization item. Additionally, there is no premium pay-only content for Tour of Duty. It will also run in a seasonal format, delivering brand new content and challenges to chase every new season. You'll also be able to earn rewards directly in other ways, such as leaderboard placements in Escape or Versus modes.

Supply Drops will also offer random item drops from a unique pool of content for every minute you play, across every multiplayer mode. Duplicates will turn into Scrap automatically, which can be spent on crafting Supply items you don't have, or character skills you want to upgrade. Supply Drops and Supply Drop content cannot be purchased with real money. Instead, you'll be able to buy exclusive customization content with a premium in-game currency called Iron, which is purchased with real money. Iron can also be earned through each Tour of Duty. All content found in the Gears 5 store is direct purchase, so what you see is what you get. There is no randomness.

There's also a new optional purchasable in Gears 5, Boost, which provides accelerated progression for a period of real-time, as in one day or seven days. It offers double multiplayer XP, double character XP for Escape and Horde modes, and double speed for Supply Drop Progressions. Boost is not required to earn or unlock any content.

This microtransaction model is clearly geared (pun intended) to deal with the upcoming loot box wars, as the loot box ban bill introduced by U.S. Senator Josh Hawley is now looming in the horizon, and more recently we've reported on Electronic Arts and Epic Games facing some opposition and grilling on the subjects of loot boxes and gaming addiction. It looks like a paradigm shift is in the works when it comes to microtransactions, which will most likely benefit gamers.

What are your thoughts on the Gears 5 microtransactions? Does it seem like a fair model? Let us know in the comments below!