14 DAY TRIAL // One of the executives working at developer DICE on the first-person shooter Battlefield 3 has confirmed that the game will use a solution similar to the Electronic Arts made Online Pass that will serve to limit access to the multiplayer modes for those players who pick the game up on the used market.
Patrick Bach, who is the executive producer working on Battlefield 3, has told GamerZines that, “I don’t think it’s an online pass, I think it’s our own backend. I’m not sure I want to call our system an online pass.”
The developer was then asked point blank whether DICE and publisher Electronic Arts were aiming to make second-hand buyers of the game pay in order to get access to online multiplayer and he said “I think we are”, adding, “The whole idea is that we’re paying for servers and if you create a new account there is a big process on how that is being handled in the backend.”
The Online Pass was initially introduced by Electronic Arts in its sports games, with the overall aim being to sell more new copies and also get some revenue from those second hand buyers who are interested in multiplayer modes.
Since then other publishers have adopted similar solutions and they have reported that more players are now getting their new games.
It seems that the Battlefield 3 solution will also use a code that is only available to new game buyers and that offers access to the multiplayer side of the game.
Battlefield 3 is set to be launched on October 25 in the United States and three days later in Europe and will arrive on the PC, the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.
The game will face tough competition in the genre from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.