Dedicated online multiplayer Echo VR has always been free for Oculus Quest and Rift owners, so in a bid to help monetise the videogame Ready at Dawn will be launching a new seasonal event pass called Echo Pass. 

Much like other free-to-play videogames, the seasonal Echo Pass will only offer players cosmetic rewards. No reward will provide an in-game advantage of any sort. There will be a free version with 10 rewards to unlock, whilst the Premium version will let players access a further 50 items. To earn them all they need to do is play matches.

The Premium pass will retail for 1000 Echo Points ($9.99 USD), purchased in-game or through Oculus DLC. After they’ve bought the Premium Echo Pass players can choose to purchase further tiers costing 200 Echo Points each if they don’t have time to earn the necessary Tier Experience Points (TXP). It’s unclear how long the season will last and therefore the effort required to unlock everything without paying.

The various Echo Points bundles:

Ready at Dawn notes that it has overhauled the in-game customization system enabling players to get more creative. When it comes to body customizations the: “Chassis is no longer restricted by game mode and can be used everywhere,” whilst the new Boosters and Bracers offer more visual options.

Another new form of customization is Heraldry. Banners, Tags, Emblems, Patterns and Tints, Medals, and Titles give players further chance to stand out from the crowd.

Before all of this is rolled out Ready at Dawn has opened a limited Private Test Server (PTS) this week to test features and collect community feedback. The studio recommends players use an Oculus Quest 2 for the PTS as Rift and original Quest players may experience performance issues.

Ready at Dawn has yet to confirm when Echo Pass Season 1 will commence, just that its ‘coming soon’. As for the studio’s other big VR title, Lone Echo 2, there hasn’t been an update since October 2020, hopefully, 2021 will be the year. For further updates on both videogames, keep reading VRFocus.