Battlefield: Bad Company 2, NFS: Shift 2, and other games now have free online passes

May 30, 2013 13:45 GMT  ·  By

In a rather surprising turn of events, Electronic Arts has apparently started offering Online Passes for certain Xbox 360 versions of older games for free, including Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor, or Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed.

EA implemented the oft-criticized Online Pass system many years ago in order to make extra money from those who got used copies of a game and wanted to try out certain features like the multiplayer mode.

Earlier this month, EA confirmed that it's scrapping the system due to fan feedback and now, according to NeoGAF, many Online Passes for certain older EA titles have gone free on the Xbox 360.

Currently, free passes are available for Alice: Madness Returns, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Bulletstorm, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Mass Effect 2, Medal of Honor, NFS: Shift 2 Unleashed, and Skate 3.

EA hasn't offered an official explanation for the sudden shift and, as of yet, these online passes still cost money on the PlayStation Network for the PS3 versions of the aforementioned games.