Unified Season Pass for Multiplayer and Content Compatibility (No DLC)
Hello Keen Team,
I would like to suggest a new content and access model for Space Engineers 2 that could replace individual DLCs while keeping the multiplayer community unified.
The idea would be to introduce a single cumulative Season Pass instead of releasing several separate DLC packs.
The purpose of this Season Pass would not simply be to provide one year of content. Its main purpose would be to guarantee that every player accessing multiplayer owns the same gameplay features, functional blocks, decorative blocks, and construction pieces.
When a new Season Pass period begins, it could include a major gameplay update. All additional blocks, decorations, and content released during the following year would then be included automatically, without any separate DLC purchases.
The Season Pass would also be cumulative.
A player could stop purchasing the Season Pass for several years without losing access to the game or to their existing solo worlds. When that player eventually purchases the current Season Pass, it would also unlock all gameplay updates and blocks released during the previous years.
For example, a player returning after three years would only need to purchase the current Season Pass to receive the three years of missed content as well as the content released during the current period.
The most important aspect of this model would be multiplayer access.
Players without the current Season Pass could continue playing Space Engineers 2 in solo mode, including their existing worlds and previously accessible content. However, access to official multiplayer and updated multiplayer servers would require the current Season Pass.
This would ensure that everyone playing together has the latest version of the game and access to the same complete block library.
In a construction game such as Space Engineers 2, this consistency is especially important. Under the current DLC model, players often own different combinations of content. A blueprint may contain only one missing DLC block, but that can still prevent another player from using the creation correctly.
I personally own all the Space Engineers DLCs, but this remains a regular problem when playing with friends. Some of them are missing certain DLCs, and sometimes they are not even aware that a new DLC has been released.
A unified and cumulative Season Pass would provide several advantages:
- No more individual DLC packs
- The same blocks and gameplay features for every multiplayer player
- Better blueprint compatibility
- A simpler purchase for new and returning players
- Continued solo access for players who do not purchase the current pass
- A clear and predictable source of recurring revenue for Keen
This system would not be an annual DLC under another name. It would be a way to keep multiplayer players up to date while avoiding permanent content fragmentation.
Players who mainly enjoy solo mode would never be forced to purchase the Season Pass. Players who want to participate in the active multiplayer ecosystem would purchase it knowing that everyone they meet has access to the same gameplay content and construction tools.
Thank you for considering this proposal.
Kind regards,
Draxiko
I like this feedback
No. Merciful Heavens No.
This does not "Unify" Anyone.
If a player choose to use a DLC, they aren't fragmented.
If a player chooses to use or make any blueprint, they haven't fragmented, or been denied choice.
Merging every DLC into a bundle, does not solve "I have to make Choices, and their choice might differ"
All you have done is damage the entire DLC business model, as the DLCs didn't contain features.
Updates did, and everyone already had those, the DLC were block models.
As now, unless that "Season Pass" is raised in cost Every single time, you have made the cost of producing the DLC extensively more expensive as now each "Season" all prior content is now for the cost of the first set.
Lets put that into math.
A season Pass at 10 Dollars, is one set. Would get complaints.
The next season, the Pass is 10 dollars -- it now contains 2 entire sets.
The next Season, its still 10 dollars, its now 3.
The cost for each Season to make the update & the DLC, hasn't lowered, the the Season is now each year less cost effective for development. Every single time.
Lets say it raises ; Great, every Season the Pass is harder to sell, and more difficult to sell to a new user.
Every Season, the player that wants 1 Set now has to buy them all.
This is how you fail at economics.
If you just want every Single blueprint a user makes to never be choices you wouldn't, Accept it.
As this is certainly ain't going to do Anything but Kill development.
No. Merciful Heavens No.
This does not "Unify" Anyone.
If a player choose to use a DLC, they aren't fragmented.
If a player chooses to use or make any blueprint, they haven't fragmented, or been denied choice.
Merging every DLC into a bundle, does not solve "I have to make Choices, and their choice might differ"
All you have done is damage the entire DLC business model, as the DLCs didn't contain features.
Updates did, and everyone already had those, the DLC were block models.
As now, unless that "Season Pass" is raised in cost Every single time, you have made the cost of producing the DLC extensively more expensive as now each "Season" all prior content is now for the cost of the first set.
Lets put that into math.
A season Pass at 10 Dollars, is one set. Would get complaints.
The next season, the Pass is 10 dollars -- it now contains 2 entire sets.
The next Season, its still 10 dollars, its now 3.
The cost for each Season to make the update & the DLC, hasn't lowered, the the Season is now each year less cost effective for development. Every single time.
Lets say it raises ; Great, every Season the Pass is harder to sell, and more difficult to sell to a new user.
Every Season, the player that wants 1 Set now has to buy them all.
This is how you fail at economics.
If you just want every Single blueprint a user makes to never be choices you wouldn't, Accept it.
As this is certainly ain't going to do Anything but Kill development.
After reading all the feedback, I think my Season Pass proposal wasn't the right solution.
My goal was simply to solve blueprint compatibility caused by DLC ownership differences. However, I now understand that replacing individual DLCs with a cumulative Season Pass would create bigger issues than it solves.
It would fundamentally change Keen's business model, either by reducing revenue over time or by making the pass increasingly expensive and harder to justify for new players. It could also introduce other forms of fragmentation depending on how it was implemented.
The real challenge is finding a way to improve blueprint compatibility without breaking the current economic model or restricting player choice. Maybe the answer lies in how DLC ownership is handled during multiplayer sessions rather than replacing the DLC system itself.
Thanks for the discussion. It helped me see the drawbacks of my original idea.
After reading all the feedback, I think my Season Pass proposal wasn't the right solution.
My goal was simply to solve blueprint compatibility caused by DLC ownership differences. However, I now understand that replacing individual DLCs with a cumulative Season Pass would create bigger issues than it solves.
It would fundamentally change Keen's business model, either by reducing revenue over time or by making the pass increasingly expensive and harder to justify for new players. It could also introduce other forms of fragmentation depending on how it was implemented.
The real challenge is finding a way to improve blueprint compatibility without breaking the current economic model or restricting player choice. Maybe the answer lies in how DLC ownership is handled during multiplayer sessions rather than replacing the DLC system itself.
Thanks for the discussion. It helped me see the drawbacks of my original idea.
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