26% of US players aged 8 and over have bought a season pass or battle pass, according to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2026 Essential Facts report, fielded by YouGov in February 2026. That puts passes level with expansion packs and eight points behind in-game currency. This post covers purchase rates, premium pass pricing across six live-service titles, Epic’s March 2026 V-Bucks repricing, and where pass-adjacent revenue moved in 2025.
Battle Pass Spending
How Many Players Buy a Battle Pass?
The ESA asked US players aged 8 and over which types of in-game content they had ever purchased. Passes tied with expansion packs at 26%, behind in-game currency at 34% and skins at 27%.
Respondents could pick more than one option, so these shares overlap and do not total 100%. In Fortnite and Call of Duty the currency purchase and the pass purchase are often the same transaction, which blurs the top two rows further.
| Type of in-game content purchased | Share of US players aged 8+ |
|---|---|
| In-game currency | 34% |
| Skins or customization items | 27% |
| Expansion packs | 26% |
| Season pass / battle pass | 26% |
| Additional maps or levels | 19% |
| Randomized content packs | 15% |
Source: Entertainment Software Association, 2026 Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry. YouGov online survey of 13,545 US respondents fielded February 11–25, 2026. Multiple answers allowed.
Randomized content packs sit last at 15%, nine points below passes. US consumer spending on game content reached $52.3 billion in 2025, per Circana figures published in the same ESA report. Our breakdown of in-game purchase spending habits covers how that content spend splits by platform.
Battle Pass Spending by Price Across Live-Service Games
Six live-service titles price the premium tier between 800 and 1,100 units of their own currency. These are list prices in each game’s premium currency, not dollars, and the currency-to-dollar rate differs by game.
| Game | Premium pass price | Season checked |
|---|---|---|
| Fortnite | 800 V-Bucks | From March 19, 2026 |
| Apex Legends | 950 Apex Coins | Season 30, from August 4, 2026 |
| Marvel Rivals | 990 Lattice | Season 9, from July 2026 |
| Valorant | 1,000 VP | Season 2026 Act 2, from March 18, 2026 |
| Overwatch | 1,000 Overwatch Coins | Season 2, April 14 to June 16, 2026 |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | 1,100 COD Points | Season 05, from July 23, 2026 |
Source: Epic Games, Electronic Arts, NetEase Games, Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment and Activision publisher listings, 2026 seasons as dated.
Two publishers state a dollar figure themselves. Blizzard equated 1,000 Overwatch Coins to $10 when it introduced the Overwatch 2 pass, and Epic’s cheapest V-Bucks pack sells 800 units for $8.99, matching the Fortnite pass exactly.
Publishers compete on the tier above the pass. Activision sells a Battle Pass Bundle with 20 tier skips at 2,400 COD Points, Blizzard a premium pass plus 20 tier skips at 2,200 Overwatch Coins, and Respawn a bundle at 2,800 Apex Coins. Apex Legends also sells Ultimate and Ultimate+ tiers for real money rather than coins.
Marvel Rivals is the outlier on expiry. NetEase states a purchased Luxury pass stays redeemable in later seasons, so an unfinished pass is not lost when the season closes.
Fortnite Battle Pass Spending After Epic’s March 2026 Repricing
Epic announced the change on March 10, 2026 and applied it from March 19, citing the cost of running Fortnite. Dollar prices on every V-Bucks pack stayed the same while the number of V-Bucks inside each pack fell.
| Item | Before March 19, 2026 | From March 19, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Battle Pass | 1,000 V-Bucks | 800 V-Bucks |
| V-Bucks awarded on completion | 1,000 plus 500 in Bonus Rewards | 800 |
| Battle Bundle | 2,800 V-Bucks | 2,600 V-Bucks |
| OG Pass | 1,000 V-Bucks | 800 V-Bucks |
| Music Pass | 1,400 V-Bucks | 1,200 V-Bucks |
| LEGO Pass | 1,400 V-Bucks | 1,200 V-Bucks |
| Fortnite Crew monthly V-Bucks grant | 1,000 V-Bucks | 800 V-Bucks |
| $8.99 V-Bucks pack | 1,000 V-Bucks | 800 V-Bucks |
Source: Epic Games, “Fortnite V-Bucks Price Increase,” published March 10, 2026, effective March 19, 2026.
The season loop changed shape. Players previously spent 1,000 V-Bucks and earned 1,500 back across the pass and its Bonus Rewards; Epic’s FAQ now states the pass awards 800 V-Bucks, which it describes as enough to buy the next one.
The Exact Amount pack moved from roughly $0.50 for 50 V-Bucks to $0.99. Larger packs fell too, with the $89.99 tier dropping from 13,500 to 12,500 V-Bucks. More context sits in our Fortnite player and revenue data and our Epic Games figures.
Where Battle Pass Spending Sits in 2025 Platform Revenue
Newzoo put the global games market at $201.6 billion in 2025, up 9.1% and past $200 billion for the first time. Its figures cover consumer spending on games and services, excluding hardware, advertising and betting.
| Newzoo segment, full-year 2025 | Revenue | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Global games market | $201.6B | +9.1% |
| Mobile | $113.3B | +10.7% |
| Console | $44.7B | +2.8% |
| PC | $43.6B | +12.0% |
| Console in-game spending | $13.3B | −4.6% |
| Console DLC | $2.1B | −23.4% |
Source: Newzoo, Global Games Market Report quarterly update published June 2026, covering full-year 2025.
Console in-game spending fell while the console market grew. Newzoo attributed the microtransaction decline to reduced engagement in Fortnite and Call of Duty, and said full-game spending and subscriptions offset the drop.
PC moved the other way. Microtransactions made up 47% of PC revenue and rose 9.1%, which Newzoo credited in part to Counter-Strike 2 and Roblox. Full-game spending grew 25% across PC and console.
Newzoo recorded growth in every region, with the Middle East and Africa fastest at 15% and North America slowest at 5.7%. Wider platform context is in our PC gaming statistics and the overall video game market data.
Mobile Battle Pass Spending and the 2025 Slowdown
Sensor Tower measured $81.75 billion in mobile game in-app purchase revenue for 2025, growth of 1.3%. Downloads fell for a second straight year while time in games edged up.
| Mobile games metric, full-year 2025 | Value | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| In-app purchase revenue | $81.75B | +1.3% |
| Downloads | 50.41B | −7.2% |
| Hours played | 444.63B | +0.9% |
| Share of IAP revenue from top 1% of publishers | 92.5% | Not stated |
| Share of downloads from top 1% of publishers | 79.8% | Not stated |
Source: Sensor Tower, State of Mobile 2026, covering full-year 2025.
Sensor Tower’s $81.75 billion and Newzoo’s $113.3 billion measure different things. Sensor Tower counts in-app purchases on the App Store and Google Play, so third-party Android stores and direct-to-consumer sales sit outside it.
Across all mobile apps, Sensor Tower put IAP revenue at $167 billion, up 10.6%. Games grew far slower than that total, and non-game apps passed games in mobile IAP revenue for the first time in Sensor Tower’s tracking. Fuller detail is in our mobile game statistics, and audience context in our data on teenage players.
FAQs
What percentage of players buy a battle pass?
26% of US players aged 8 and over have purchased a season pass or battle pass, per the ESA’s 2026 Essential Facts report, based on a YouGov survey of 13,545 respondents fielded February 11 to 25, 2026.
How much does a battle pass cost in 2026?
Between 800 and 1,100 units of each game’s premium currency. Fortnite charges 800 V-Bucks, Apex Legends 950 Apex Coins, Marvel Rivals 990 Lattice, Valorant 1,000 VP, Overwatch 1,000 Overwatch Coins and Call of Duty 1,100 COD Points.
Why do Reddit threads call the Fortnite Battle Pass price drop an increase?
Because the dollar price did not fall. Epic cut the pass from 1,000 to 800 V-Bucks on March 19, 2026, but the $8.99 V-Bucks pack dropped from 1,000 to 800 units on the same day.
Does the Fortnite Battle Pass still pay for itself, as Reddit players ask?
Yes, with no surplus left over. Epic states that completing the pass awards 800 V-Bucks, enough to buy the next one. The 500 bonus-reward V-Bucks players earned each season have been removed.
Is battle pass spending still growing?
It depends on the platform. Newzoo recorded console in-game spending down 4.6% to $13.3 billion in 2025 and PC microtransactions up 9.1%, while Sensor Tower put mobile in-app purchase revenue at $81.75 billion, up 1.3%.
Sources
https://www.theesa.com/resources/essential-facts-about-the-us-video-game-industry/2026-data/
https://www.fortnite.com/news/fortnite-v-bucks-price-increase
https://sensortower.com/blog/state-of-mobile-2026
https://www.callofduty.com/blog/2026/07/call-of-duty-black-ops-7-warzone-season-05-battle-pass-blackcell-store