Earlier this month, publisher EA made the decision to stop offering controversial “online passes” with its upcoming games. It’s now getting rid of them for its older games too.
A new FAQ on EA’s site explains the move, saying “we are in the process of eliminating Online Pass requirements from existing EA games. This process will take several weeks. For some games, the prompt to enter an Online Pass code will no longer appear; for others, you will still need to download and install an Online Pass, but they will be available free of charge from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace or PlayStation Store.”
The first games to see their passes removed will be EA Sports titles, with other games to follow.
While EA continues to claim that it “listened to the feedback from players”, and removed the passes to “allow more people to play and enjoy EA games for a long time to come”, it’s important to note that at least one upcoming console features similar technology built into the machine, removing the need for EA to administer its own online pass.
ONLINE PASS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED, AND ITS REQUIREMENT FOR OLDER GAMES WILL BE ELIMINATED [EA, via Eurogamer]
Comments
16 responses to “EA’s Getting Rid Of All Online Passes, Not Just For New Games”
Its another step in the right direction which is good to see but they still have a long way to go.
I don’t actually think this is a good thing. What about the passes that came for games like Kingdoms of Amalur? Instead of getting content that should have come with the game free, they’ll just charge you outright for it. Of course, if online passes are purely to access mp then that’s fine, but I’m not sure about that
My understanding is that content will become available for free.
So they’re screwing over both the people that bought the game new for the additional contemt, and the people that bought the game used and paid up the nose for dlc? Am I getting this right?
Pretty much, yeah.
Still, it’s a better situation than keeping online passes.
Did the retailers screw over everyone who bought the game at release by dropping the price after a while?
No, because they got the product when it first came out. It’s just the nature of games that they drop in price repeatedly, over time. Eg. It’s not screwing everyone over because they knew they were paying more to have it at release.
More likely a step in preparation for new forms of DRM on next gen consoles and as a PR stunt to take advantage of the current buzz around DRM.
Exactly, Pretty pathetic move really.
Would have been more impressed if they had just fired they guy who came up with the idea for online passes in the first place.
Catch 22 of anything EA does.
This is exactly what I came here to say. They know what they’re doing! The online pass system is basically the same as the XBone’s DRM nonsense, this is all just a scheme to reap the goodwill. They’re don’t deserve the goodwill. Don’t anyone be fooled!
🙁
EA doing something FOR the players…. yeah right. Not all gamers came down in the last shower.
Yeah this is a really generous move on their behalf. Now that MS (and presumably the publisher by extension) will be forcibly inserting themselves into every used game transaction for new consoles EA will actually make more money – because the online passes wont be optional – they’re taking their cut of the disc purchase.
“Listened to the gamers”. Hah. This is because they’ve got MS and Sony both stretched over a barrel threatening them to either cut out used games sales or face launching a console without FIFA and Madden.
Guess that means 2 things.
1. Microsoft got its deal with retailers over used games.
2. Sony is onboard with the same style of drm.
I think you’re probably right in regards to Sony DRM, doubt they would have made this move otherwise.
I’m not surprised they’re getting rid of online passes, cause all their new games will be called MMO’s.
This is just the wrapping paper around the spring-loaded cream pie.