An Online Pass is a code used to gain access to the online features of games.
No More EA Online Passes for New Games
EA have included Online Passes with their games for years now. They have now said they are stopping issuing them with new copies of games and that any new game that still needs a code will have codes made available free online, just like the scary bingo online which is extremely easy to access and be able to play for as long as you want.
Older Games Going Free Too!
Game Informer are now reporting that even the older games will be going the same way. No more need for a pass to play FIFA or Battlefield!
Who Is Affected By Online Passes?
There’s 2 groups of people who are most affected by the Online Pass system. People who buy second-hand games and… pirates.
Pirates
If you pirate a game it comes with no online pass, for a pirate to play online they need to pay for the privilege. It means game companies make money from people who steal their games – that’s a completely understandable thing and if someone doesn’t pay for the game the least they can do is pay $10 to play it online with their friends.
Pre-Owned
The other group of people, the one’s who are negatively affected.by the Online Pass system EA uses, are those of us who buy pre-owned games. There’s a bunch of reasons why somebody would choose to go second-hand. The first one that comes to mind is money. New games are expensive, pre-owned ones cost less.
I play a lot of games, if I were to pay full price for all of them I probably wouldn’t be able to afford anything much else, so I buy second-hand. If a game requires me to make an extra purchase to play online then i won’t buy a pass. In-fact I’ve never bought an Online Pass for any game, I always just skip the online features and play the single player.
So I think getting rid of the online pass is only a good thing for gamers, but it may hurt EA in the pocket 😉
