The MMORPG Rift strongly resembled World of Warcraft at release, and that was intentional. The goal was to take existing content and improve upon it. However, the game has been declining for several years. In early 2022, the first content patch in years was supposed to arrive – but players only received an old Battle Pass rehashed.
What is wrong with Rift?
- Rift was released in 2011 as an MMORPG with a subscription model but could only lure a few players away from WoW. In 2012, it switched to free-to-play with an optional subscription, which was considered a very fair model for years.
- There were regular updates and expansions, and the class system and events in the open world were often praised. The game had some fans and was considered “solid”, but it never reached blockbuster numbers.
- From about 2016 the monetization became more aggressive and the mood in the community deteriorated.
- In 2018, Trion Worlds was bought by the German publisher gamigo. However, they let the game decline and didn’t provide any real updates for years. They also shut down the Classic servers back in 2019.
- However, “new content” for Rift was announced for the first quarter of 2022. But nothing happened until April.
Rift revives old Battle Pass – Where is the new content?
What is new now? On May 4, Rift received an update that brings back the Battle Pass from Season 1. This includes 30 levels through which you can earn consumables and artifacts. Those who purchase the paid version also gain access to cosmetic content such as the “Great Balls of Fire” mount.
However, these cosmetic contents were already available in 2019, in the first season of the Battle Pass. Those who have already purchased this do not benefit from the return.
It is also curious that the client shows that the Battle Pass runs from March 11 to August 15, but it was only activated now, on May 4. However, the official blog post also mentions August 15 as the end date.
How is the Battle Pass received? Players are waiting for a promised content update and are being presented with an old Battle Pass. Consequently, the reactions are quite negative.
Generally, there are only a few reactions to the announcement, such as in the Discord of Rift and on reddit. Interest in the MMORPG is generally low.
Is this the big new content? No. The developers already revealed on April 1 that the big content update for Rift has been postponed and will no longer arrive in Q1 2022 (via Rift).
When exactly the patch will come is still undecided. However, players of Rift have already been waiting for a new, major update since 2019. A few months hardly matters.
The return of the Battle Pass was even celebrated in its own video. It’s only the second video released on the YouTube channel since 2019:
Rift is still praised for its cool class system
Is it worth fighting for Rift? The MMORPG from Trion Worlds has some fans who appreciated Rift’s innovations:
- You choose a base class and then have access to 8 different talent trees. You can combine three of these and play the class completely differently than your friends might.
- In the open world, there are recurring events called Rifts, where players gather and fight together.
- It offers housing, a feature that WoW players always wish for.
Although the MMORPG no longer achieves great revenue numbers, there is still a community that actively plays Rift. In the last 24 hours, there were still 240 players online at peak times on Steam (via SteamDB). Rift also offers its own client, where probably even more players are active.
Whether the major update can turn things around remains to be seen. So far, neither the content nor a release date is known. The return of the Battle Pass from Season 1 is certainly not met with much enthusiasm.
Would you wish for a rescue of Rift? Or is the game no longer interesting for you? Feel free to share in the comments.
One thing is for sure, we have to say goodbye to a once-popular MMORPG in 2022:
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