Online pass sell by dates?

Online passes have been in the news recently, specifically those provided by Electronic Arts. It appears that some online passes have expiry dates, specifically mentioned is Dragon Age II. It appears that some people have bought the latest iteration of Need for Speed and found that their pass had expired when they entered it. This seems to have been a problem with the system and those hitting this issue have had their code replaced.

The shock here is that the codes themselves have an expiration date at all. Online passes are codes that come in the box of new copies of games and need to be entered before the online features of the game become available to the user. The idea being that the original purchaser of the game should see no problems with their experience and be able to play as normal. However, should that user trade the game in the next purchaser will not have the online pass and won't be able to access the online features.

Second hand game sales are huge, nobody is denying that people have a right to sell games they have played and may never want to play again. Nor is anyone suggesting that users buying second hand games are doing anything wrong. What is wrong is the wholesale embracing of game trade ins and used copy sales that brick and mortar game retailers have adopted in the last five to ten years.

Some game stores put used copies in more prominent positions than new, they actively ask you if you would prefer a used copy rather than a new one. They are making more money from this practice and to be honest you can't blame them. This issue has got to the point that publishers and developers are seeing a problem. They see the sales figures for their game and obviously are seeing that there are more sales than they are getting paid for. I don't know the figures, though it's possible that if a game sells say one million new copies, then those new copies could circulate around the game stores multiple times. Would you personally be happy that your game appears to have sold three million times and you only got paid for one million of those copies?

The passes were designed to combat the problem, second hand buyers got a fully functional single player game, though if they wanted to play the multiplayer component they had to go online and pay for a new online pass code. The idea was met with a general wailing and gnashing of teeth, which it seems any notion other than giving away games for free is met with these days. Personally the online pass hasn't done much to upset me, I don't buy second hand games, I quite like the idea of rewarding the people who make the games I play. I know only a portion of the money goes directly to the developers themselves, like any entertainment industry there are others, just and unjust who get their cut.

I can't see any reason for the inclusion of an expiration on these online passes. Games do have their time in the sun, and most console games with mediocre multiplayer are barren wastelands even a year after the games launch. If the developers have dedicated servers and other infrastructure to maintain that is costing them money, then you can see the force in closing down older games multiplayer sides. If I were to buy a game new five years after it's launch, a stretch I know, but bear with me. I would expect the online pass to still function, what I wouldn't expect is to be getting that many other players to play online with. If a games multiplayer has expired then that is an unfortunate fact of life, some things are popular, some things aren't, live with it and move on. If I find that the online pass has expired, that just seems silly, shouldn't I be able to redeem the pass, even if I am redeeming something worthless? It was sold to me, it shouldn't expire as if the contents of the game box were perishable!

This means that those who buy games new, say a year after their release will have to be careful of the online pass. This is Electronic Arts absolutely shooting themselves in the foot, I buy many games, I usually buy them new, on or around release, I have limited time to play games and I have plenty of games that I bought new over a year ago which I am still getting around to playing. I do not want to clear my backlog and get to a certain game to then find that I can't play the online portion due to an expired code.

The message that this policy seems to be sending to gamers is that a game that is over a year old should not be bought new as there is a good chance you will have problems getting to play the online portion. Gamers shouldn't be directed to the used game aisle under any circumstances EA. With this move you are putting obstacles in the way of gamers who want to give you their money rather than the retailers.