Older EA online passes going free

EA has decided not only to discontinue the Online Pass program, but to eliminate the cost from online passes to older games like Mass Effect 2 and Medal of Honor.

Steve Watts

May 30, 2013 9:00 AM

EA recently announced that it is discontinuing its Online Pass program, and the publisher is going one step further by removing the cost from older online passes. We first noticed the switch when several pieces of Xbox Live Marketplace content, like the Cerberus Network for Mass Effect 2 and the online pass for Shift 2 Unleashed, switched to free.

A thread on NeoGAF spotted the changes and compiled a short list. Other games that appear to have switched their online passes to free include Bad Company 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Medal of Honor, and Skate 3. The prices on the Sony Store, so far, remain unchanged.

"As we discontinue Online Pass for our new EA titles, we are also in the process of eliminating it from all our existing EA titles as well. We heard the feedback from players and decided to do away with Online Pass altogether," an EA representative told Shacknews. "Players will see it first with some EA Sports titles, where a prompt to enter an Online Pass code will no longer appear in-game; with other titles we are simply making Online Passes available free of charge online. These are rolling updates that are taking effect over the next several weeks. We hope players continue to enjoy our games and online services for a long time to come."

Steve Watts

Editor-In-Chief

Filed Under

From The Chatty

Refresh Go To Thread

Shacknews

 reply
May 30, 2013 9:00 AM

Steve Watts posted a new article, Older EA online passes going free.

EA has decided not only to discontinue the Online Pass program, but to eliminate the cost from online passes to older games like Mass Effect 2 and Medal of Honor.
- ForlornIdeals
  
   reply
  May 30, 2013 9:22 AM
  
  This is what gets me about EA. For every action they take that pisses people off, they do something that shows how wonderful they are. It's like a giant metaphor for balance in the universe or something.
  
  They make annual releases of games that don't need them, and put microtransactions into games, then turn around and take chances on new IPs and hold summits on equality. Go figure.
  - Rehevkor
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 9:24 AM
    
    It feels more to me like a little kid testing his boundaries. EA will do something wretched and self-serving, and if the backlash is strong enough, they'll revert their stance in order to save face.
    
    Maybe we're saying the same thing and I'm just cynical. I dunno.
  - mancide
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 9:24 AM
    
    They don't care about these revenues at this point. I'm sure the sales of these passes they made free are so minuscule they figure the goodwill they generate will outweigh any monetary gain.
    - Beady
      
       reply
      May 30, 2013 10:12 AM
      
      Somewhere at EA an excel spreadsheet determines everything they do.
  - aethyr
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 9:36 AM
    
    I forget where I heard it, but basically since there will be no more used game market, there's no point in online passes.
  - AxeMan808
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 12:02 PM
    
    How many people, worldwide, care about these passes now being open? Show of hands? Three. Three people worldwide care.
- kurumba
  
   reply
  May 30, 2013 9:23 AM
  
  Sweet, I'll go grab that copy of Bad Company 2 for £4 then :)
  - tw3kr
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 11:41 AM
    
    Please do! Still a great game with a decent amount of online activity.
- derelict515
  
   reply
  May 30, 2013 9:37 AM
  
  in a few weeks they'll announce how they're shutting down the MP servers for all these old games anyway...
- pgharavi
  
   reply
  May 30, 2013 10:54 AM
  
  When Sony stealth-announces a similar strategy to used games as MS, EA's business plan will make more sense.
  - [deleted] 1167568288
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 10:58 AM
    
    [deleted]
    - pgharavi
      
       reply
      May 30, 2013 11:08 AM
      
      There are highly paid c-levels and their subordinates whose primary job is to manage things of this nature. It's quite similar to politics.
      
      On this one subject, MS executed poorly.
- GodZilly
  
   reply
  May 30, 2013 11:15 AM
  
  They go free because they are planning to take the servers down.
  - Annul
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 11:25 AM
    
    ^^^ This is the real reason. EA is making the online passes free so it can justify shutting the servers down in a few quarters and doesn't want bad press of people paying for passes right before the servers are killed.
  - Wolfanoz
    
     reply
    May 30, 2013 11:50 AM
    
    WHAT DO WE HAVE FOR HIM, DON PARDO? Pretty much!