EA wants cash to play multiplayer

[Sly Reflex]

EA push the 'Ten Dollar Project' a little further than most will agree they should do.

http://www.trueachievements.com/newsitem.aspx?newsitemid=1308

EA Sports announced the next part of it's "Project 10 Dollar", which packed in one-time redeemable codes in games like Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The next phrase of "Project 10 Dollar" is called an Online Pass, which will function similarly to the codes found in Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but rather than bestowing free DLC to the player, they will allow the player to play online in that selected title.

That's right, a code to play online, which is why a vast majority of us pay for XBL Gold.

But what if you bought pre-owned? Don't worry, you can always buy one off of the XBL Marketplace for the meager price of 800 mp.

And have no fear if you bought or downloaded DLC, you can still play the content if you do not have an Online Pass, you are just restricted to offline modes only.

However, there is a 7 day trial if you do not have an online pass, so you can still squeeze in some online play.

Online Pass is set to start on June 8, with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.

Below the belt EA. Below the belt.

[Craymen Edge]

Oh dear, this isn't going to end well.

They seem to be thrashing about wildly trying to find some way to encourage people to purchase new rather than preowned. This isn't the way though. I predict a massive backlash and this idea will get dropped pretty sharpish for next year.

[Jimboxy]

EA, EA, EA

*shakes head*

and you were doing so well as well.

EA are cunts, activision would never pull this shit.

[retroed]

I dunno. I can understand why they want to do this. Publishers must get so annoyed at game retailers selling preowned copies of their games at a couple quid less than a brand new one, and then almost force you to purchase the cheaper preowned version when taking a new game to the till. It sucks for the poor sap wanting to buy cheap second hand elsewhere though, especially if they don't realise the hidden costs for online, and those buying new have to bear in mind that they won't get as much for their game if they decide to sell it on.

EA are obviously targeting the preowned market, but they have to be careful or it could seriously backfire.

[Hendo]

Pulled this out of the random thread, needs it's own place to vent.

The worst part of this is that EA have been routinely pulling down servers of games that aren't popular anymore so it's not like these games are guaranteed a server for life anyway. Boo, and indeed, hiss.

[hinn888]

Ubisoft has responded to questions regarding future DLC during its fiscal earnings call, stating that the company might resort to following EA's example and adopting the Project Ten Dollar DLC scheme.

The potential move will follow an 18% loss of earnings for Ubisoft for the year, boosted in the final quarter of 2009-2010, riding on sales of Just Dance on the Wii and Assassin's Creed II.

Future Ubisoft releases will presumably adhere to the EA template of packaging exclusive access to DLC with new copies of the game and charging approximately £10/$15 for the same access for those buying the game pre-owned. As such, Ubi DLC will therefore be issued from day one in some cases.

"Most of the games we are releasing next year will have from the start downloadable content available, and we are looking very carefully at what is happening with EA regarding what we are calling the $10 solution, and will probably be following that line sometime in the future," said Ubisoft CFO, Alain Martinez.

Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot threw in his own two cents, stating, "We have been using keys starting last year on our products. Those keys were allowing some customers to have content if they were buying the product in specific stores, so we have the system in place to actually generate more revenue on the second-hand market.

"We are building the content to make sure it can be beneficial for both groups to actually pay enough on one side and on the other side when you don't buy the game as a full game that you're interested to buy the new offering and are interested to pay to get that."

EA introduced the Project Ten Dollar initiative to recoup lost revenue from the sale of used games. Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 both include unique access codes with new copies.

[David]

I don't mind the DLC thing, but this is all a slippery slope, as EA have already proved. Ubisoft are terrible as well, so it wouldn't surprise me to see this get worse;

[HandsomeDead]

This does suck I guess, I bet most publishers will follow suite. But I only buy new, so I'm okay. Any used games I buy are old as fuck and have no intention of playing their online modes.

[Sly Reflex]

Sony poised to introduce 'PSN Pass'?

http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/868498-sony-poised-to-introduce-psn-pass

Internet gaming sites are abuzz with the news after a PSN Pass logo was highlighted by an eagle-eyed gamer on a German bundle of Resistance 3.

An image, posted on German forum Konsolentreff , clearly shows the purple logo slapped on the front of the box, accompanied by the text 'PSN Pass Network features [will only be] available in countries that have PlayStation Store'.

It's thought the PSN Pass will be similar to those already used by EA, THQ, Codemasters and Warner Bros, with some commentators expressing surprise that it has taken Sony this long to introduce a pass.

However, the news is unlikely to be welcomed by those who tend to purchase their games second hand, as they will likely have to fork out to access the online content once the PSN Pass is introduced.

Sony has so far been keeping quiet on the issue, although many believe the pass will be introduced in September when Resistance 3 hits the shelves.

MCV speculated that further details will be provided at Gamescom in August.

Resistance 3 follows on three years after Resistance 2, developed by Insomniac Games exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

It looks like this idea might have taken root.

[DANGERMAN]

you know what, I don't really have a problem with it, especially from EA and Sony. Both companies use their own servers and neither charge, I can't see a problem with them wanting some money towards that. If publishers have found a way to make some money from resale, the way car manufacturers have, then so be it.

I will say that this possible trend towards demonising 'used' gamers is a bit worrying, it's not like they're filthy lunged smokers

[Craymen Edge]

It looks like this idea might have taken root.

Yeah, unfortunately it does seem that way.

While my buying habits mean it hasn't effected me much this last year since I rarely buy used (apart from maybe getting a bit less when I sell or trade in old games); and agreeing that if you buy used then the developer/publisher doesn't really owe you anything; I still find this practice pretty alienating.

They should be giving you added value content, which you have to pay extra for if buying pre-owned. Not sticking existing features behind an arbitrary paywall.

(Also, when this comes into practice I might a little extra selling my codes for PS3 games on ebay. I've had my PS3 since November and haven't spent a single minute gaming online. I can't even be bothered to populate my friends list because of the shitty way it's implemented.)

[Manicm]

So if im paying EA for the right to beat my mates at fifa and im paying for xbox live as well!! thats not right! I understand it a hit to the pre-owned market and prices should tumble for these but the other day i spotted NFS:HP pre-owed for £25 so another £10 for the online bit, so its cheaper to buy it new.

[Hendo]

It sucks a fat one but I can see why they're doing it, piracy is a problem as is second hand market.

I haven't bought a second hand game or traded one in for a while, I'm not sure if that's because of this trend or just because I want the games when they come out.

[DANGERMAN]

So if im paying EA for the right to beat my mates at fifa and im paying for xbox live as well!! thats not right! I understand it a hit to the pre-owned market and prices should tumble for these but the other day i spotted NFS:HP pre-owed for £25 so another £10 for the online bit, so its cheaper to buy it new.

EA's ideal is for their sports game to go to a subscription model anyway, which for multiplayer isn't a bad idea. For people that dont play online I guess things just carry on as normal for a few more years

[Hendo]

This is why those online passes are getting harder to swallow.

EA has earmarked another 18 online multiplayer servers to be shut down this year.

The first, larger batch will be switched off on 11th August 2011. Among the multiplayer servers disappearing will be those for Army of Two (PS3, 360), Skate (PS3, 360), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (PS3, PSP, Wii, 360) and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (360).

On 1st October, two more online multiplayer services will disappear: Madden NFL 10 (PS3, 360) and NHL 10 (PS3, 360).

The full list of those that will disappear, as well as those that have disappeared, is below.

August 11, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

Army of Two for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Army of Two Demo for Xbox 360

Battlefield 2142 Demo for PC

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for Xbox 360

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Demo for Xbox 360

Medal of Honor Airborne for PlayStation Portable

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for PlayStation Portable and Wii

NASCAR 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (North America)

NCAA Basketball 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

NCAA Football 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Need for Speed Most Wanted for PC and Xbox 360

Need for Speed Undercover for PlayStation Portable

Skate for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

October 1, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

Madden NFL 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

NHL 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

If those passes mean a guarantee the server will stay up then fine, but I doubt that.

[Uncle Dokuro]

EA Games will no longer use Online Passes.

Electronic Arts has decided to leave the controversial system that requires players to purchase or redeem a code to access a game's online features behind.

EA's senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg confirmed the discontinuation of the program in an e-mail to VentureBeat.

"There's not much to say. The online pass came out in 2010. It was a way of packaging together a suite of post-launch content and services for people. There was also an element for people who bought the game game second sale. It never really caught on. People didn't like it. People told us that they didn't like it and you know, we went through a cycle and we're about to put out some new games and we just decided not to do that anymore. We're 100% committed to creating on-going content and services so the consumers get more value out of the game – you know games like Battlefield and FIFA where there's all sorts of new things that get added all the time – but the whole idea of packaging it up with an online pass, clearly it was not popular, so we listened to people and we stopped doing it." - Jeff Brown, Electronic Art's VP of corporate communications

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/05/15/electronic-arts-abandoning-the-online-pass.aspx

[DANGERMAN]

I suspect it's more to do with how they do dlc nowadays. Their dlc is almost part of the free to play model, you pay a few quid and get a lucky dip that could be weapons, players, armour, skins, that model works better with more people playing.

Either way it's probably a good thing so we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth

[HandsomeDead]

I think they'll stick to the season pass model for extra cash, too, which isn't a model I hate.

I wonder if Sony will drop it as well?

[Hendo]

I forgot all about this when I bought Syndicate second hand the other week, which is of course an EA game.

[Bob]

I don't think Sydicate has an online pass does it? I recently bought it and I don't think I had to activate one. The online is completely dead of course but that is neither here nor there.

Glad to see the back of them. They always seemed like a way to punish people buying pre owned rather than reward people buying new which is a fairly dispicable way to do business.