The downfall of EA, used games, and online gameplay: EA to start charging $9.99 for activation codes to “unlock” online, multiplayer gameplay.

As the war rages on between the pros and cons of physical vs. digital game distribution, no clear winner has yet emerged. There’s a good reason for that — used games. With the control and ability to charge for every little aspect, game publishers are looking at DRM and the digital revolution to revitalize there sagging sales and “stop piracy”. Not to mention, since people already trade used games via file-sharing, any legal variant is essentially hopeless. And of course, greed clouds their decisions unfortunately. And if there’s a chance for corporate tight wads to wring us for more money, believe me, they’ll find it. And find it they did…

Exhibit A: EA will begin requiring 2nd hand users to purchase activation codes for online/multiplayer-online gameplay. These codes will come in at an extra $9.99 mind you, negating a fair chunk of the “used game value”.

It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal until you think of the massive used games market and how games are becoming increasingly dependent on online gameplay features. That’s where the nuts get kicked. For used game buyers specifically, in order to actually tap into online content — single or multiplayer — you will need to purchase an activation code to “unlock” (read: de-fuck) your game.

Via Destructoid:

Starting with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 on June 8th, all EA Sports games going forward will include a code in the case, and you’ll need to type in that code in the menu in order to enable online play. If you buy an EA Sports 11 game used, or if you rent one, or if you borrow one from a friend, you’ll have to buy a code from the Xbox Live Marketplace or the PlayStation Store for 800 Microsoft Points or $9.99, respectively. Of course, EA Sports will still afford you the privilege of purchasing DLC (or downloading free DLC) for its games, but without an Online Pass, you’ll only be able to use the content offline.

Thankfully, EA Sports has included a provision for renters and borrowers: if you don’t want to buy a code, you can activate a free seven-day trial of online play — but you can only do it once per EA Sports game. Surprisingly, GameStop is on board with the EA Sports Online Pass — the retailer will be selling Xbox Live Marketplace points and PlayStation Store cash cards alongside the 2010 EA Sports games.

Rationalize it however you want, it’s bullshit and a desperate grab for more money while simultaneously trying to push people away from used games and instead pay more for new games.

The whole thing of course only goes downhill from here. Once people get used to purchasing accept being reamed for online content, someone will eventually work up the gull to start charging subscription based fees on top of the inital purchase price for any gameplay ala WoW.

And the race to crack EA’s new activation codes starts now…

Consumerist

Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!