Images purportedly leaked from the pre-release build of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (opens in new tab) reveal that the game will feature both Battle Pass and an in-game store. The images reveal that the game will feature both a battle pass and an in-game store.

The images, first posted on 4chan, clearly show the "Battle Pass" and "Store" drop-down menus, as well as what appears to be several types of in-game currency. While this is fairly standard for a competitive free-to-play game, "Suicide Squad" is a solo game and supports drop-in/drop-out co-op play. Pricing has not yet been officially announced, but is expected to be on par with traditional premium games: for example, UK retailer Game (opens in new tab) currently has Suicide Squad available for pre-order for £70.

Contributing to the frenzy is the lack of information about how Suicide Squad will be played. No substantial gameplay footage has been released, and for players expecting a single-player campaign like "Arkham City," the announcement of a monetization scheme through leaks has been a disappointment.

"It's not a PvP game, is it?" cuts to the heart of the problem of battle paths in PvE games." People just need to finish the story.... And what do you do? Play challenges just to farm mobs, unless you plan to release a new story mode every month or two, I see no reason to stay in a PvE game and worry about skins and things like that."

Redditor Get_Fucked17 (opens in new tab) expressed a more emotional but widely accepted perspective on the issue." How are you going to get away from Battle Pass on a $70 game?" They write, "Call of Duty" is getting away with it by offering "Warzone/DMZ" for free; what does Rocksteady think about this? Will the game be free?

Several redditors predicted that "Suicide Squad" would end up like Square Enix's ill-fated superhero game "Marvel's Avengers" (opens in new tab). That seems a bit off the mark to me: if "Suicide Squad" was expected to be a campaign-based experience anyway, the success or failure of the post-game live service element is irrelevant.

However, the objections to "Suicide Squad's" battle path seem to focus more on principle than on practicalities. YouTuber Sclmof's tweet (opens in new tab), "Why does anything these days, even premium-priced single-player games, require a battle pass?" captures a sentiment that seems to be widely accepted: with or without a campaign in Suicide Squad, or Regardless of the quality, "there's something weird about Rocksteady, known for story games, making a GAAS game."

Of course, all complaints assume that the leaked images are accurate. So far that has not been confirmed, but VGC (opens in new tab) reports that "development insiders" say that a battle path focused on cosmetic items like skins is planned for the game. At least some of the apparent currency at the top of the image is XP, which is used to power up and customize each character's skill tree.

We have contacted Warner Bros. about this leak and whether "Suicide Squad" will offer Battle Pass and will update if we hear back. Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League will be released on May 26.