EA has finally decided to drop its controversial Online Pass program from all of its future games mainly due to lacklustre player response and feedback.
"Yes, we're discontinuing Online Pass," EA's senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg tells Venture Beat. "None of our new EA titles will include that feature."
Many of EA games including the modern military first-person shooter Battlefield 3 and Madden NFL use Online Pass, a requirement to play many of a game's online features including multiplayer. The one-time use pass is being activated by a code; however, gamers would need a code which is free with new copies but must be bought if the game is bought used.
"Initially launched as an effort to package a full menu of online content and services, many players didn't respond to the format," Reseburg acknowledges. "We've listened to the feedback and decided to do away with it moving forward."
Online Pass system was first introduced in 2010 and has reportedly generated revenue between $10-$15 million for EA in its first year itself. As Venture Beat notes, "Online Pass is seen by publishers as a bulwark against the second-hand market, which retailer GameStop dominates. Publishers were worried that consumers were buying games used instead of new - especially big games with popular multiplayer modes. So the online pass became a way that publishers forced consumers to either buy a game new - or pay extra for online."