EA have begun the process of retroactively removing the Online Pass system from their older titles. This means that a lot of DLC which previously required you to purchase an Online Pass will now be free. In a statement on the topic, an EA spokesperson told Eurogamer this:
“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,” a spokesperson said. “We heard the feedback from players and decided to do away with Online Pass altogether.
“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.”
Already reduced to nothing are Battlefield Bad Company 2’s VIP Pass, Skate 3’s Skate Share Pack, Online Passes for Bulletstorm, Kingdoms of Amalur, Medal of Honor and Shift 2 Unleashed. Dragon Age: Origins’ The Stone Prisoner and Mass Effect 2’s Cerberus Network Pass have also been slashed to nothing, meaning you can finally rock up in the Hammerhead with Zaeed if you couldn’t afford to before (though the Hammerhead will always be inferior to the Mako).
You can find out more about the changes in this Online Pass FAQ.
What do you think of the new ‘Good Guy’ EA? Is it the start of a more customer friendly EA or too little too late? Let us know in the comments below.