Riders Republic, Ubisoft’s newly released extreme sports game, has been described by its developers as a “massively multiplayer sports game”. Your fellow riders out in the Republic are real people and almost everything in the game has a multiplayer element, whether that’s racing against 50 other people in Mass Races or watching people on rocketwings actively crash in the background behind you as you zoom through the mountains.As is common with most modern massively multiplayer online games, Riders Republic has a payment option that unlocks extra content: the ‘Year 1 Pass’.
Luckily, Ubisoft has kept it simple and provided a roadmap of exactly what Year 1 Pass owners and players with the base game can expect in the coming year. In this guide, we’ll sum up whether the Year One Pass in Riders Republic is worth it or not.
What is the Year 1 Pass in Riders Republic?
The Year 1 Pass allows the player to obtain full access to all future Riders Republic content during Year 1 and access some content early. The Year 1 pass is not a pass that is active for a year from purchase, but rather for all content introduced during Year 1 of Riders Republic, which is from October 2021 to October 2022, and covers the current Pre-Season and Seasons 1-3. Players without the Year 1 Pass will still have access to most future content, but the Year 1 Pass offers a little bit extra every season.
The Year 1 Pass is included with the Gold Edition of Riders Republic priced at $99.99 USD, as well as the Ultimate Edition at $119.99. The Year 1 Pass is also purchasable separately for owners of the base game for $39.99 USD. Players that purchase the Pass during future seasons of Year 1 will still receive the content they originally missed out on.
What are the benefits of being a Year 1 Pass owner?
Year 1 Pass owners will have at least one bonus every season, including the current pre-season. This includes a total of 8 Exotic Kits, 2 exclusive cosmetic bundles and the BMX Sport add-on, as well as 7-day early access to Season 2 and Season 3.
Owners of the base game and above will receive all other content added to the game throughout Year 1, which includes multiplayer modes, weekly challenges, live events, season progression, time-limited multiplayer experiences, tracks and arenas. A full list of the differences between Year 1 Pass owners and owners of the base game are listed below.
Year 1 Pass
- 8 Exotic Kits – 2 in the Pre-Season and 6 in Season 2
- Winter Cosmetic Bundle – Season 1
- BMX Sport add-on – Season 3
- BMX Cosmetic Bundle – Season 3
- 7-Day early access – Season 2 and 3
Base game
- Multiplayer modes
- Weekly challenges
- Live events – Season 1 onwards
- Season Progression – Season 1 onwards
- Time-limited multiplayer experiences – Season 1 onwards)
- Showdown MP Arena – Season 3
- Showdown Arena – Season 2
- BMX multiplayer variants – Season 3
- BMX tracks and bowls – Season 3
Is the Year 1 Pass in Riders Republic worth it?
The content included in the Year 1 Pass in Riders Republic is mostly all either cosmetic or fun bonuses that are only usable in the open world. If you’ve purchased the base game, the only substantial content you will be missing out on is the BMX Career, but even then, other BMX content will be available to non-Pass holders.
At launch, the only difference between base game owners and holders of the Year 1 Pass are the Rocket Bike and Rocket Skis, which are extremely fast versions of the respective regular Gear that are only usable when exploring.
If cosmetics and open-world bonuses don’t interest you, then you can easily give the Year 1 Pass a miss. If the BMX career is something you’re interested in down the line, we recommend purchasing the Year 1 Pass when more information is known. After all, The difference in price between the base game and the Gold Edition is exactly the same as the base game and Year 1 Pass.
You can find our full coverage of the game, including more helpful guides, on the Riders Republic tag page. Be sure to check out our guides on Bike tricks and Ski & Snowboard tricks to stay ahead of the competition and earn those Stars!.
Riders Republic is available now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Google Stadia and Amazon Luna.
