14 DAY TRIAL // Ubisoft has officially acknowledged the fact that future "core titles" published by the company will make use of a Uplay Passport, essentially an online pass that will charge buyers of used titles $10 if they want to use the multiplayer mode of these games.
The used game market has been giving lots of developers a hard time, with many companies trying their best to make gamers refrain from trading in their copies and others from buying a used game instead of a new one.
Many publishers, like Electronic Arts or THQ, have turned to online passes, which force second hand gamers to buy a $10 digital pass that allows them access to the multiplayer portions of their games as well as other things like downloadable content.
Now, Ubisoft is joining such efforts, with the company confirming that the upcoming Driver: San Francisco title will be the first game to use a so-called uPlay Passport.
Uplay is Ubisoft's own social-like network for owners of its titles, which rewards them with exclusive content for completing certain actions in the game.
The Passport must now be bought, in exchange for $10, by gamers who are going to get used copies of Driver: San Francisco, if they want to enjoy the multiplayer mode of the new racing game.
Ubisoft has confirmed that the Uplay Passport will be used by many of its upcoming "core" games, and that this fact will be marked on the back of their boxes, so you can expect such a system to be used with titles like Assassin's Creed: Revelations, which arrives this fall.
Until then, Driver: San Francisco leads the Uplay Passport rush when it is released on August 30, for the PC and Mac, as well as on consoles like PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii or 3DS.