EA Discontinues Controversial Online Passes

[Admiral Derpy Hooves]

http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/15/ea-kills-its-controversial-online-pass-program/

Finally EA makes a move that makes people happy. Maybe the won't win the worst company of the year award three times in a row.

Discuss EA's questionable business practices and this good news.

[N-Sunderland]

I find it plain sad that this is the point the video game industry has come to. When I buy the game, I expect to get what I paid for. I shouldn't have to make a second payment for any of the game's features. How companies like Microsoft get away with crap like this is beyond me. Know what's worse? Capcom's disk-locked content. It's already on the damn disk, yet you have to pay for it to unlock it, as if it was downloadable content? It's depressing.

[Admiral Derpy Hooves]

I find it plain sad that this is the point the video game industry has come to. When I buy the game, I expect to get what I paid for. I shouldn't have to make a second payment for any of the game's features. How companies like Microsoft get away with crap like this is beyond me. Know what's worse? Capcom's disk-locked content. It's already on the damn disk, yet you have to pay for it to unlock it, as if it was downloadable content? It's depressing.

Well in EA's defense.

The online passes at their base concept are not such a bad idea. If you buy a game used from a retailer or friend they as a publisher don't get any profit from the sale. Then they proceed to lose money paying to run the server to allow you access to online play.

I think where EA went wrong was not just that they made the online pass to counter this. They made it to turn a profit at the inconvenience of the consumer.

However I completely agree with the disc locked content. Partly the reason why EPIC GAMES has lost my business after GoW 3.