[OPINION] Paying to Play: A look at the Online Pass Model

With Sony announcing that online play will be restricted to users with a 'PSN Pass,' and the internet in an uproar as a result, I thought it'd be worth taking a look at why companies like EA and THQ are moving in this direction.

It's a known fact that Developers and Publishers make no money on pre-owned or rental sales. Yes, they've made their money on the original purchase, but is it fair that retailers can sell a second-hand copy (often similarly priced as a new one), and they don't see a cent of it? I'm not convinced.


Let's try changing the product, and see if it'd be acceptable. Imagine you're a Pizza Chef. You source all your ingredients, make your dough, roll it out, add toppings and cook it. Someone buys it off you for, say, $10. Five minutes later, they bring it back to you, and you give them $4 for it. It's definitely not new any more, so you sell it for $8 instead.

You wouldn't buy a second-hand pizza, would you? Didn't think so.

...not only that, you wouldn't pay full price if it was missing a slice...

Now that's an extreme situation, one that's unlikely to happen, though for me personally, the feeling is the same. I'm the kind of guy who will wait for a game obsessively, and pick it up on launch day. Hence, the Online Pass system doesn't affect me, because there's a code I can use inside that box from Day One.

So why the uproar? From what I can gather, it's because we hate paying for things we think should be included. And here's the kicker... it IS included! I think it's an ingenious measure, designed so that these companies can get a little extra off people that aren't paying full price. It's not like it's WoW, or something that you have to pay every six months, after all... It's a one-off charge, and it's done.

Some people are content to pay more than others, obviously...

And just how much is it? Let's have a look. (For arguments sake, just at the Xbox 360 Marketplace)

Homefront - Battle Code: 800MSP
Bulletstorm - Online Pass: 800MSP
Mortal Kombat - Kombat Pass: 800MSP
Alice: Madness Returns - Online Pass (Downloads orig. Alice game): 800MSP
FIFA11 - Live Season (All Leagues)" 800MSP
NFS:HP - Online Pass: 800MSP

Are you starting to see a pattern here? Let's just take a further look... How much is 800MSP in actual funds?

AUD$13.20

Not all that much, in the scheme of things, especially when you consider that the average price of a pre-owned game is AUD$50. Of course, the CoD titles are still stupidly expensive, even preowned (I look forward to the day Activision implements their Onlne Pass system, just to hear the internet howl with enraged fanboys), but add the two together and your price is still less than what you'd pay for a brand new copy.

I'm not for one second calling anyone that prefers to buy preowned games for financial reasons cheap. I've picked up a few amazing titles (Batman:Arkham Asylum) preowned, purely because I couldn't pass them up at AUD$12 (Neither could you, I'd bet).

"Are you kidding? $12 doesn't even cover my Dry Cleaning!"

My point is this... Yes, having to pay extra to play online sucks (unless you're Blizzard)... but when you really stop and look at it, everyone wins. You're paying less than full price for a AAA title (including the Online Pass), and both the retail store and the Developer/Publisher are getting a cut from a second-hand sale.

And I'm pretty sure this'll all go out the window once we move to an entirely digital-distribution system, so if you're really opposed to it, bide your time.