Ubisoft Hops On the Online Pass Bandwagon

Joining the likes of THQ, Electonic Arts, and Sony, Ubisoft has now announced plans to launch the "Uplay Passport," a $10 fee charged to buyers of used games if they want to play them online. They say the program "will begin in the coming months and will be included in many of Ubisoft's popular core games. In each new copy of a Uplay Passport-enhanced game will be a one-time use registration code that, when redeemed, provides access to Uplay Passport content and features. The code can be found on the insert card inside the game box. Gamers can identify Uplay Passport-enhanced games by looking for the logo on the back of the box."

Great

[click2005]

Another games publisher to avoid.

Re:Great

[Anonymous Coward]

Everybody should avoiding Ubisoft since long ago.

Re:Another attempt to kill the secondary market

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Another attempt to kill the secondary market.

I'd say I'd stop buying Ubisoft games, but I have mostly stopped buying games except thru Steam anyway.

Isn't steam the wet dream of those trying to kill the secondary market?

Re:Another attempt to kill the secondary market

[vux984]

I'd say I'd stop buying Ubisoft games, but I have mostly stopped buying games except thru Steam anyway.

Wait you'd stop buying ubisoft because they are trying to kill the 2ndary market, because you buy on steam where they already did?

Hell.. on steam... you can't even lend or give a game away, never mind resell it.

Re:Great

[Anonymous Coward]

I have boycotted Ubisoft since they started with the always on internet connection DRM.

Re:Another attempt to kill the secondary market

[Intropy]

Steam doesn't allow a secondary market; that is true. But they make up for it by selling games much, much, cheaper than other retailers (I don't have figures, but I assume that their deeply discounted games greatly outsell the others). The ability to resell a game has a value to me. If you discount the new game by an amount greater than the amount of the resale value, I will happily prefer buying your cheaper, but non-resealable version. Go low enough and nobody cares about buying used either since nobody buys a used game because they prefer used to new; they buy used because it's cheaper. The losers are the stores that specialize in reselling used games since they can no longer profit off of arbitrage.

Re:Another attempt to kill the secondary market

[vux984]

I lend quite often. It's called I switch my password to something temporary to let a buddy play...

This is in blatent violation of the Terms of Service you agreed to.

And while your buddy is playing an online game, you can't login. Even if you own 20 other multiplayer games and wish to play something that is not in use....

or just signin once to their machine, download the game, and put the hack on to put Steam into permanent offline mode on their machine.

Effectively cracking the system to let your friend play it. Why not just have your friend torrent a cracked copy? How is what you've done any better?

Plus this method ensures you can't lend someone an online game, and/or that the lendee can't do any multi-player.