Brawl Stars is one of the most popular games in the gaming world!
A large number of players play the game.
When a player plays it, numerous questions come to the player's mind.
One of the most common questions that comes to the players' minds is whether Brawl Stars is a pay-to-win game.
They can't help but wonder, is Brawl Stars pay to win?
Brawl Stars is NOT a pay-to-win game. It is almost entirely skill-based.
There are some features in the game such as the Brawl Pass that seem to be pay-to-win. However, the free-to-play friendly features nullify such features' effects!
Thus, Brawl Stars is not a pay-to-win game and instead, is a free-to-play game.
In this article, I've answered this question in more detail.
I've also answered another related question that is common among the Brawl Stars players.
So, without any further ado, let's get into it!
Is Brawl Stars actually pay to win?
According to Wikipedia, a pay-to-win game is a game that offers certain features which provide a large advantage to a player over other non-paying players.
On the contrary, a free-to-play game is a game that does not require one to pay to be good at the game.
In a free-to-play game, there might be some optional items that one can purchase using real money. But, such items do not affect the gameplay of the non-paying players.
Now, let us first check out some pay-to-win and free-to-play friendly features of Brawl Stars.
Then, we would again come back to the question of whether the game is a pay-to-win game.
Following are most of the pay-to-win features of Brawl Stars:
1. Brawl Pass
The Brawl Pass is a pass in the game that allows a player to claim some rewards when the player makes progress in the game or completes certain in-game tasks.
This pass can also be obtained by free-to-play players if they collect enough gems to purchase it.
However, it is readily available to players who can buy it any time they wish with real money.
Although the brawl pass does not provide a large advantage to a player, it does provide certain good rewards to the player who purchases it.
2. The Gem System
Most of the games generally have a gem system.
In some games, one cannot make progress without purchasing gems with real money.
While in other games, one does not need gems to make good progress.
Brawl Stars falls in the second category.
In Brawl Stars, players can get gems for free as well.
However, they are also available for purchase.
If one purchases gems, one gets a little advantage as one can buy different things from the in-game shop with those gems.
One can also purchase numerous brawlers, star powers, and brawl boxes in the game with gems.
Now that we know most of the pay-to-win features of the game, let us now check the free-to-play friendly features of Brawl Stars.
Following are most of the free-to-play friendly features available in the game:
1. Lots of free in-game items
In Brawl Stars, one can get a large number of cool items for free.
There are also many items or brawlers that one can buy with in-game coins.
One can obtain in-game coins by opening more and more brawl boxes for free.
This feature helps the free-to-play players to progress faster in the game.
2. Matches in Brawl Stars
Matches in Brawl Stars make the game less pay-to-win and more free-to-play.
They are one of the main parts of the game.
If one wants to do well in Brawl Stars, one has to do well in the matches.
To do so, one has to be skilled.
One cannot play well in every match by spending more money on the game.
A player has to practice to play nicely in most of the matches in the game.
Now that we know both the pay-to-win and free-to-play friendly features of the game, let us come back to our main question.
Is Brawl Stars actually pay to win?
The Brawl Pass and more gems might provide a little advantage to a player over other non-paying players.
However, the ultimate target in the game is to do well in every match that one plays.
To achieve that, one has to practice a lot.
One cannot do well in every match that one plays by just spending real money on the game.
One has to be genuinely skilled to actually win in Brawl Stars.
The game is almost entirely skill-based.
Hence, we can conclude that Brawl Stars is NOT a pay-to-win game.
Can you make good progress in Brawl Stars as a free-to-play player?
You can make good progress in Brawl Stars as a free-to-play player.
As long as one is active and practices by playing a lot of matches in the game, one would not face any difficulty in making good progress in Brawl Stars.
Conclusion
In this article, I've answered a common question of whether Brawl Stars is a pay-to-win game.
I've also answered another related question that is quite common among the players.
Now, I'd like to turn it over to you:
Do you think that Brawl Stars is a pay-to-win game? Why or why not?
Or, you might have a question.
Either way, feel free to let me know by dropping down a comment below!
I've also written an article about whether Clash of Clans is a pay-to-win game. You can read it here.
Cheers,
Raj Oberoi