Spectre Divide claims they are not pay to win, but free track has bigger problems

Spectre Divide was released on September 3, 2024, as a free-to-play first-person shooter (FPS) title, and it features many free items that players can secure by playing the game. The game, however, has an XP-based unlock system instead of an account-level system, which could be a major thorn in the player’s side. This is primarily because the goals for unlocking even the most basic tier 1 items require a massive amount of XP.

Spectre Divide can be enjoyed without spending a single dime. Mountaintop Studios launched the game with eight sponsors - four of which remain locked and require XP points. The weapons are also readily available, but their cosmetics demand a lot of XP per variant throughout the tiers.

This article will highlight the free track reward issues in Spectre Divide.

Note: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the author's opinion.

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Spectre Divide free track rewards need massive XP and time

Mountaintop Studios has ingrained a few packs and bundles that can be bought from the in-game store. Players are not required to purchase these cosmetics as there is no direct impact on the matches - they are only visual changes. However, there seems to be a whole different problem for the free rewards and unlocking Sponsors.

Sponsors are an integral part of the game as they provide the abilities and equipment for each match. While four of them are available by default at the start of the game, the others must be unlocked by leveling up and earning XP.

Umbra Reconnaissance Sponsor (Image via Mountaintop Studios)

A single Sponsor unlock takes 273,000 XP in a game where one match win provides around 3,000 XP. If you lose, the XP is lower and slows down your overall progress. Consequently, it would take around 90 matches to unlock one of the four locked Sponsors. If one match takes 30 minutes to complete on average, it would take over 40 hours for a single group.

This means players would need to grind the game for at least 160 hours to gain access to all the locked ability providers. However, this number is without counting the Daily and Weekly mission XP rewards. Even with these in-game tasks that reward XP, the total pool for unlocking Sponsors is not reduced by a significant margin.

A total of three Daily tasks are available for 3000 XP each alongside three separate Weekly Contracts that offer 12000 XP each. This only adds up to 45,000 XP, which means players would need to accrue 228,000 XP more to unlock one Sponsor.

Evolution Blackout skin in Cryo Kinesis bundle (Image via Mountaintop Studios)

If players choose to purchase the weapon skins, they would need to rake in massive amounts of XP once again to upgrade from one variant to the next. Each higher variant takes a lot more XP, meaning you would need to grind the game more even after making a purchase. The only other way to get it faster is to spend real currencies to get Spectre Points.

The final variant of the currently available Cryo Kinesis bundle requires a whopping 315,000 XP for the final Blackout variant. So after purchasing the bundle, if you want to equip the Evolution Blackout skin, it would easily take a while before it is unlocked. This can potentially limit the loadout options for players while queuing up for online matches.

This seems to be a major issue as the XP point gain does not stack for the Sponsors or the weapons. It is counted specifically and could make it very difficult for weekend or casual players to unlock their desired free track items.

You might be interested: All Spectre Divide Sponsors and abilities explained

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