With games retail relying more and more on exchange and the sales of pre-owned titles it is probably no surprise that publishers - who obviously only get revenue from the initial sale - are coming up with some new ways to make money. DLC is a big factor but Electronic Arts have gone further than most. Project Ten-Dollar has already seen the likes of Mass Effect 2 require purchasers of pre-owned copies to pay for access to online services that were initially included for free. Now it looks like things will be going further. EA has announced that all EA Sports games released after next month will come with an Online Pass that is required to play online. This code is included with all new copies of the game but if you pick up a pre-owned copy you will need to pay to play online - probably around, you've guessed it, ten dollars.
So how does it work? Andrew Wilson, SVP of EA Sports explains:
Every game will come with a game-specific, one-time use registration code with each unit sold new at retail. With your Online Pass, you'll have access to multiplayer online play, group features like online dynasty and leagues, user created content, and bonus downloadable content for your game including, for example, a new driver in Tiger.
Of course, the main reason this is likely to cause a fuss is:
If the original access code has been redeemed and fans wish to get access to the online content (for example, if you pick up a used copy), you can access a free 7-day trial or additional Online Passes will be available for $10.
Remain unconvinced? Wilson sums it up:
We want to reserve EA Sports online services for people who pay EA to access them.
Clearly EA are trying to encourage sales of new games rather than pre-owned - but is this move a sign of things to come?
What do you think then? Annoyed that you will need to buy FIFA 11 new to play online for "free"? Or is this just to be expected now given the huge amount of pre-owned sales?
