It has been announced today that EA are to end the controversial Online Pass Program. This meant that specific EA titles required the purchaser of a new game to register a code for online multiplayer access. This code was boxed with Battle: Bad Company 2 as well as other EASports titles. Whilst this in essence was a way of making more money, as someone purchasing a second hand game would then have to purchase an online pass from EA to be able to get any access to online features.
With this program being dropped by EA we will more than likely see an increase in Micro Transactions within EA titles. Something which many are not fond off just as much as the Online Pass Program. As far as I am aware this program was previously limited to physical versions of EA titles. For the most part, focusing on console gamers as when installing Battlefield 3 for example, I used an activation code which doubled up as my online pass. Which gave me instant access to Battlelog and all it’s online features.
Many will praise EA for dropping the Online Pass Program but this could be because the program doesn’t work? And in my opinion I am doubtful that many consumers will purchase a game with specific online features second hand knowing that they will more than likely have to pay even more money to gain access to them.
