With the release of F1 22 comes two editions to choose from: the Standard Edition and the Champions Edition.
The Champions Edition promises quite a bit of content, ranging from premium currency to help you buy items from the Item Store to exclusive My Team Icons that you can use to recruit into your team in My Career. The question is though: is it worth the price?
In this article, we will be looking at the pricing of both these editions and figure out whether the Champions Edition of F1 22 is worth it over its Standard Edition counterpart.
Pricing
The pricing scheme for F1 22 is a bit confusing as not only does it have different prices because of the Standard Edition and the Champions Edition, but there are also price differences depending on which platform you are getting the game in.
Below is a list of the platforms you can get F1 22 in as well as the pricing for both the Standard Edition and the Champions Edition:
Standard Edition
- PC (Steam / Epic Games Store / Origin) – $59.99 / £49.99
- PlayStation 4 – $59.99 / £59.99
- PlayStation 5 – $69.99 / £69.99
- Xbox One – $59.99 / £59.99
- Xbox Series X – $69.99 / £69.99
Champions Edition
- PC (Steam / Epic Games Store / Origin) – $79.99 / £69.99
- PlayStation 5 – $79.99 / £79.99
- Xbox Series X – $79.99 / £79.99
You might be wondering, where is the pricing for the PS4 and Xbox One? Well, with the Champions Edition, you get Dual Entitlement meaning when you buy the PS5 or Series X Champions Edition of the game, you also get the game on the PS4 and Xbox One for free.
The Differences Between the Standard Edition and Champions Edition
With the Champions Edition being $/£20 more expensive than its Standard Edition counterpart ($/£10 if you are getting the PS5 or Series X versions), it is quite a bump in price. So what exactly are you getting when you get the Champions Edition instead of the Standard Edition?
Well for one, if you are getting a physical copy of the game, the box art will be different. For the Standard Edition, you will be getting box art featuring Charles Leclerc, George Russell, and Lando Norris, three rising stars in the sport who would definitely be future champions.
For the Champions Edition, you will be getting box art featuring Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso, all of which have already won championships in the past, hence the “Champions Edition”.
Aside from that, all the other bonuses below will be exclusive to the Champions Edition:
- Two driveable Safety Cars which are the Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car as well as the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series Safety Car, both of which can be driven only in Time Trial mode. These cars can also be displayed in your F1 Life house for you to show off.
- 18,000 Pitcoins which is the premium currency within F1 22 that can be used in the Item Shop to buy character customization items such as suits, helmets, caps, and gloves, as well as liveries and sponsors which can be added to your car in My Team. You can also purchase the VIP Podium Pass using the Pitcoins in order to unlock a special tier Podium Pass that includes exclusive items.
- An F1 Life Starter Pack which includes exclusive furniture, wall art, and a player t-shirt for your F1 Life house and avatar.
- An F1 22 New Era Content Pack which includes an exclusive livery, suit, helmet, cap, and t-shirt, all themed and inspired by the 2022 New Era F1 car.
- And finally, new My Team Icons will be available for you to pick for your team in Career Mode. These drivers include 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, (statistically) the most successful Australian F1 driver Mark Webber, and former 24 Hours of Le Mans champion Nico Hulkenberg.
Is the Champions Edition Worth It?
With the exclusive Champions Edition items listed, I would have to say that the Champions Edition does not seem to be worth getting for the extra $/£10 / $/£20. While the exclusive items are neat, most of them are very limited in terms of usability.
The safety cars can only really be used in Time Trial and displaying them in your F1 Life would be a bit awkward, not to mention you can get the normal version of these cars through normal gameplay.
The same can be said for the F1 Life Starter Pack and the F1 22 New Era Content Pack. While these are nice additions, you can get better items as you progress through the game, or by progressing through the Podium Pass.
The 18,000 Pitcoins is definitely a great thing to have as this alone would set you back around $10 normally if you buy from the in-game shop, however, this resource only really unlocks cosmetic items, so unless you will be spending a lot of time in My Career, you are better off spending your money elsewhere.
This leaves us with the new My Team Icons. Although it is great to have more drivers to choose from when building up a team, the new icons are not really something to write home about. Unless you are a big fan of these drivers, I do not see how the Champions Edition is a good value.
Final Thoughts
Getting the Champions Edition of F1 22 really boils down to two things: if you want more cosmetic items or if you are a fan of the new My Team Icons. If both of those things ring true to you, then go ahead and get yourself the Champions Edition.
If only one or if none of it is applicable to you, it is a bit of a hard sell when the Standard Edition already offers so much content.
Maybe if the game had upcoming DLC expansions or so or if they brought back classic F1 cars like in F1 2020 it would have been an easier sell, but as it is, the Champions Edition is not worth it in the slightest.
