Earlier this week, EA Sports introduced gamers to something known as “Online Play Pass” that is taking effect starting with this years lineup of sports titles (starts with Tiger Woods 11). EA’s Play Pass is a code that is inserted into every new purchase of an EA Sports product that gives the consumer the opportunity to play that game online. However, that means that if you buy your title used, you may end up with a used code and therefore must shell out $10 to unlock the bulk of online features.
A lot of gamers are up in arms about this; however, it makes perfect sense for EA to take these types of steps to not only prevent piracy on a console like the Xbox 360, but to potentially change some usual used game sales into new game sales instead.
EA CEO John Riccitiello spoke in the company’s yearly fiscal reports conference call yesterday and told investors that he absolutely loves this idea.
“We think it’s a great idea, we think it’s going to build our business, and we think it’s a positive consumer experience,” said Riccitiello. “Invariably, the consumer is getting a boat load more content to experience than they otherwise would.
“We used to literally pull our teams off of a game within four to six weeks pre-ship and they’d go work on something else because the game was done,” he added. “Our teams are being held in place up through and beyond ship to continue to create content to entertain the consumer with the franchise they like best.”
I know some of you are going to get the pitch forks out and start marching, but let’s be honest — game developers lose a ton of cash each year to used game sales and piracy. Some of those studios actually end up being shut down and we lose some of our favorite franchises this way. So, any step to further avoid that type of result should always be welcomed. If you’re one of those gamers who always buy used, yeah, it sucks — but it also sucks for developers that you don’t support their effort by buying new as well.
What do you guys think?
I think this argument is bogus.
To say it prevents piracy is silly – there’s already piracy prevention in place, and it’s not at all trivial to pirate console games.
To say that developers lose gobs of money to the used market is bunk. The used game market has existed since the Atari days. Good games survive just fine.
I’m already paying $50/year for my Xbox Live subscription, which other console owners don’t have to pay. Now publishers want to charge me for online service as well?
EA’s servers are notoriously HORRIBLE when it comes to new release games, which is all the more reason NOT to buy them when they come out. NHL is a fiasco each and every year with the servers being overloaded and all sorts of issues with online play.
EA has consistently put out sports products with glitches, exploits, etc — and doesn’t even fix them in year-to-year releases (see NHL 2010 vs NHL 2009 and the number of bugs in 2010 that remain from 2009… same is true of Madden and a number of other games)…
Finally, EA’s stance on this is basically trying to paint people who buy used games as thieves the way it words its statements. That’s a load of bull. People buy games used because they either can’t afford them new, or they weren’t sufficiently interested in buying it at the new-game price point.
I haven’t purchased a sports game in ages. Same game released each year but with updated rosters. I personally believe paying full price for a sports game is a scam. EA wants to make sure consumers pay full price for their sports games. Sneaky approach but I see why they will take this route.
A better strategy is to create the best Madden, FIFA, NBA games and update the rosters through game updates while keeping the price of the games close to 60 dollars. This way people know that they are getting a great deal. No need for another version the following year.
i beliewe its a great idea
however, im cinda scared that EA is going to be the greedy son of a b**ch that they are, and use this as an excuse to cut out even more game content than they should,
and then sell it as add-ons
(like there doing now with add-ons that come out just days after the game releases)
It’s a great idea as far as I’m concerned.
The servers are currently provided for free, and presumably covered by a slice of the profit made from the sale of the game. If you buy a game used, the publisher/developer gets no money, so why should you be entitled to make use of those servers?
Hopefully this cash will be used solely to provide faster/better servers for the games, which will improve the online experience for everyone.
It’s not a move which affects me personally, since I buy all my games new. But even if I did pick up a used game, I’d have no problem paying this if I really wanted to play online.
It’s not the worst thing in the world. I buy most of my games new anyway.
@ steve i agree 100% somtimes that ten dollar diffrence between new and used games means me getting the game or not. now im basically pirating my games because gamestop is helping me out a bit? hmmm sounds like bs. and @ deans closing statement. buying new does not mean your not showing support. it either means their game can suck my balls cuz its not worthy of being bought new or because i dont have enough money cuz my family isnt the richest people in the world.
When was the last time you were able to buy used DVDs from a respectable store? I’d expect never. Used games are an odd practice that isn’t reflected elsewhere. Why, for example, does HMV stock used games, but not used DVDs?
@Patrick Steen
I buy used dvds and blu-rays at my local movie stop. I find movies for less than 5 dollars. Sometimes I get 3 movies for 10 dollars(dvds) .
Nobody is being “charged” for anything in a sense that if they would just buy the game new, this would not be a problem. Gaming is an expensive hobby; if you’re going to complain about having to pay full price for particular titles, be thankful that there even is a sanctioned used market. I get so sick of people saying “Waahh I don’t have money!!1!” Either prioritize the money you DO have or find a new hobby. If your budgets that small, you shouldn’t even be gaming.
This “Online pass” idea is complete bullshit! Why should a game require activation before it’s even playable? You should be able to go to a game store, buy the game, take it home and play it straight away without the need to acivate it!
They’re discriminating against anyone who owns a console and wants to play a game, but who may not have internet access – Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who owns an X360 or PS3 has internet in their home. Some people actually do own a console and have no internet! SHOCK!!!
Also, they’re just putting a “Use by” date on games as if they were a consumable item. NES games are still playable twenty years later, but who’s to say that these newly released games will still be playable in even a fraction of that? You may find that EA might only want you to play this game for two years, and then after that you’ll be unable to activate the full game – Especially if you’re playing it in the future.
We are seeing this now with older Xbox titles like Halo 2 which have had their online modes deactivated – Yet there are still people out there who play Halo 2 and may want to play online. I personally have yet to play the game, but now i’m never going to be able to enjoy online gameplay
Likewise, even some early X360 titles have had some of their online content taken away – Yet brand new copies of these games are still being sold for the console, which means anyone who was not an early adopter is missing out
In the case of most EA sports titles, they’re made obsolete a year later anyhow, but that’s not the point. EA shouldn’t be allowed to restrict the game like this and when you buy the game disc you should be able to access the entire game by default, at any time now or in the future, without having to be dependant on having an internet connection!
@Taus90
They’re not discriminating against people who don’t have an internet connection. If you don’t have an internet connection, you won’t need the online pass anyway so you can just buy a used version if you want.
blurays are a better choice in the used market, they dont scratch, so i gues we will be seing more stuff like this in the futhure
and like reighen i fear EAs plans of ripping us off
ubisoft and activision are soon gona folow, as they also like making money of stupid gamers