THQ introduces its own 'Online Pass' in UFC 2010

by JC Fletcher on May 20th 2010 10:00AM

EA isn't the only company to hit on the idea of a one-time-use code for online play of sports games. THQ is penalizing used sales of UFC Undisputed 2010 in exactly the same way -- and, since Undisputed will be in stores next week, THQ is even beating EA to it.

Pastapadre discovered that copies of Undisputed will include a code on the back page of the instruction manual, required for online play. THQ confirmed the existence of the codes in a statement to Destructoid, adding that "Codes for accessing the content will be available for second-time buyers for an additional $5." So, right now, THQ is winning the price war in terms of online play privileges. Well, not counting all those companies that let even second-hand buyers play games online without additional chrages (for now).

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Tags: fighting, Microsoft, online-pass, project-ten-dollar, sports, thq, ufc, ufc-undisputed-2010, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (132)

What the heck? Why would they do that? Do they just hate Gamestop so much they have to hurt their customers?

It's not just Gamestop - it's Gamefly, Blockbuster, ebay - anything.

In the end, the consumer is the one who is paying for this. I don't understand why the games industry thinks they are the only one being hurt by used sales. What's next - disintegrating Blu-Ray discs? The ability to register someone to legally ride in your car for an additional $100 monthly fee?

Developers see ZERO money from used game sales. It actually hurts their sales since those are potential customers. It's %100 Gamestop profit.

They have every right to put as much limitation on used games as they can (imo).

Magnalon I forget who, but someone had the idea and PATENTED a disc that pretty much does just that....it would have been like Redbox from a vending machine but would only work for a day or 2...but it required special players so it didnt take off

@ Chris

Yep, it was known as DIVX (Digital Video Express, not the codec) and it failed hard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_%28Digital_Video_Express%29

Yes DIVX was one of them, but that was a rental service like pay per view, but you needed buy the disk of the movie and have a player that was always hooked up to a phone line. @ Magnalon, the disintegrating disk is actually out there. I've seen them at Staples. You buy the movie and after you open the airtight seal, you have several days until the disk disintegrates into an unplayable state and as the package states, you toss it into your recycle bin.

"Do they just hate Gamestop so much they have to hurt their customers? "

For crying out loud, stop trying to use that argument, if you buy used, they are not your customer, and they hate you and want to see you suffer.

Game developers couldn't care less about people who buy their games used.

you are not their customer*

I understand the debs wanting a piece of the used game market. It also makes sence since they are constenly updating thier software with updates. Next used cars are going to require an addital fee to drive on the road. :D

*sigh*

i feel like some of you would throw yourselves in front of a train to save a game developer's dog. news flash: YOU are THEIR customer. it's THEIR obligation to serve YOU, not the other way around. you don't owe them any favors. i simply can't fathom why people are crusading against used games in the name of developers. you know what i bet Bungie would say about used games? "Cool, that's just more people playing our game." i mean seriously, people have already pointed out that a used game doesn't add strain to the online network, and there is already DLC for most games that a used game buyer might get. i can't understand why anyone would like this idea.

What is worrying about the way the big publishers are heading with these 'online passes' is that it can only get worse. $5 now for second time users is not much. But as Xbox Live I must buy points in excess of $5 first. What if (when) publishers decided that $10 or $15 is the new rate?

All I can say is worst case scenario is with a Call of Duty: New Release Title. Paying for online pay as a second hand purchase, possibly on top of the cost of maps. Lets not forget this generation of games had a 20% increase in RRP already.

Shit I need to renew my XBL subscription!

However if the second market reacts with lower prices to reflect the sate of their product I have no problem with this... but I'm merely hoping.

Mass Effect 2 is on sale at our local Non-Gamestop used place for $24 right now. Gamestop still has it at $45 which makes no sense to me.

I checked into the Cerebus network thing, decided I'd protest by not buying it and downloaded $6 worth of DLC so the Devs could get a few of my Sheckles... but what I see happening is the Price that used retailers will pay for these games will tank... and the price at resale doing the same, all that will do is make it far more attractive to either live without the Extra stuff (like what I'm doing with ME2) or not buy it in the first place.

Still beats having to input words from the manual.

http://www.worleygig.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Tony-Harrison-Outrage.jpg

Be careful with that slippery slope (X happened, therefore Y then Z might happen too).

Once consumers are educated, I believe the market will adjust on its own. It would have to otherwise used games sellers and retailers such as Gamestop, GameRush, etc. will have a hard time turning over their used games inventory. In response, the price on used games with such activation codes will need to drop.

So who would finally feel the pinch? Used games retailers or private sellers (eBay/Amazon sellers, etc).

Yeah it would be wrong to make such early assumptions. However if the second hand market does tank, there could be some major advantages. Imagine buying Bioshock 3 or Assassins Creed 3 for the single player only. You could get them at a handy price, I would gladly do without the multi player on titles like those

....guess I will be taking this out of my Game Q....as I was getting it just to play online

I have no clue why you were down voted. I know a lot of people who are now not going to rent it.

Aggie CEO Upvote Force, Assemble!

Wow i just thought about that . . .

Is gamefly even worth it now? I mean, im the type of gamefly customer that rents a muiltiplayer game and will keep it for a good month before i give it back . . .

i might think about cancelling my subscription . . .

its not going to be worth it for the games that include the Multiplayer access in that code....i.e. This game and EA Sports titles....which mean I won't even bother to do my normal "Rent Madden for 3 months and then send it back" tactic as it will be useless for online play

but by no means is it enough for me to cancel my subscription.....especially considering I get new games from them for $15+ off of retail..

Yea but you say that as if multiplayer isnt a big component of games nowadays . . . .

And do you honestly not expect this to spread to other developer? If i owned stock in Gamefly i be running for the hills.

EA said they have a trial period for each profile that uses the service, I think it's either 7 or 14 days. So, unless you rent titles for more than that period it wouldn't have an affect on rentals. Not sure if THQ is doing something similar or not. Also, I'd imagine the rental companies are going to be making agreements. Oh, the online in Undisputed 2009 was the worst part about the game, especially after all the grapple block whores starting using the same exploit over and over again. The career mode in 2010 looks excellent.

not going to lie for some games it IS a big component....but I'm not gonna just up and cancel gamefly because a handful of games only work online when you have the access code.....but if its NUMEROUS game and games that I want to play online with then that could become problematic.....but I'd say we are safe for now....at least until 2012

if i play a game over the PSN, who actually controls the servers for online play? Sony or THQ, EA, etc.?

since i have to sign onto the PSN, i always thought that they were Sony's servers.

i do not like where this path is leading...

Sony makes the Devs setup the servers....Devs run their own servers....on XBL you could either be connecting to someones console or a server depending on the game....only a few PS3 games allow for hosting the game on your PS3

Brilliant strategy. Give people who already don't think your game is worth full price less functionality unless they shell out more money. /golf clap

Your point? What does THQ care if they've turned off potential game renters or second-hand buyers?

Point 1: The people trying to save a few bucks by buying used are less likely to shell out more money, especially for something they are used to getting for free.

Point 2: That product they're trying to get consumers to purchase just went down in overall value, and is less likely to be successful in market mind share.

Point 3: Those second-hand buyers/renters THQ doesn't care about and turned off now have more time and money to use on competing products.

just thought of another one...

Point 4: With less people taking part in the online community the overall replay value of the title also goes down.

Thats last point needs to be switch to number 1. Especially these days where if your game isnt a big hitter, you can almost guarantee a non existent online space.

Games need every online player they can get . . .

How are less people taking part in the community because of this? Someone has to buy the game new before it can be sold used. The amount of new copies sold is the total amount of copies in circulation.

Because that person who bought it new has already traded it away or sold it as used. Not every used game buyer or renter, who was supposed to take their place in the online community, is going to be willing to now pay the $5 - $10 extra to do so.

I'd say if they ever intended on playing the game online then the $5 charge isn't going to be a big hurdle. If someone was buying it to play offline anyway then it's not going make any difference anyway. I think the effect on the online community is very minimal at best. Sure, there could be a small fraction of people who bought the game used, intended to play it online then decided not to do so because of the nominal fee but I'd imagine thats a very small fraction of people.

chrages? I think that should be charges.

No, that would be a "cost hatred" rage, meaning they don't have to get worked up about having to buy more stuff.

It seems entirely plausible that GameStop etc will have to lower the used game prices by an equivalent amount, or at least some fraction thereof. If a used game that would have cost $40 now costs $35 + $5 to THQ, there is no difference to the end consumer and the stated goal of extracting value from the used game market is achieved perfectly, with GameStop being the only one hurt by this. Though I guess GameStop would also then buy such used games for less, but that is the cost of being lazy (and not reselling yourself).

yea Gamestop isn't goin to do that tho....they would lose out on MILLIONS of dollars

i dont think they would lose millions of dollars chris. couldnt they just offset the $5 cheaper price tag with $5 less trade in credit/cash

I've talked to some workers, and according to corporate, they're already doing that. Lowering the price of all used EA games, and lowering the trade-in value of them as well.

So once again, the customer receives the biggest dick in the butt. Metaphorically, of course.

Well, if they are lowering prices, the second-hand buyer is coming out even, if he wants to play online. He's actually better off than before if he doesn't care about online, because he doesn't have to pay for that functionality anymore. The only person being hurt is the person trying to resell the game, as they get less in return, but that is what happens when you go through a middleman. Reselling on eBay is really easy, and you get a lot more for your games. It's not like GameStop was giving you a great price on traded-in games before this new trend anyway.

offset it by paying $5 less?

so instead of getting $30 for a week old game you get $25? uhhhh yea....no one would trade a game in at all then...

LOL. You'd be surprised.

People trade in all sorts of stuff for dirt.

They will keep raising the online price and eventually this will destroy Gamestop's resale market. I think it's great for rentals too. Want to rent a game, that cool, it'll just cost you x amount of money to play it online forever one time.

Pretty sure this is the future.

If you want to learn how the UFC online system works and how to disconnect in UFC 2010 without getting a Loss or a DNF, click this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stltifYhmt8

The game companies need to work out an arrangement with Gamestop and their ilk instead of passing the cost down to consumers. I think there's a big difference between Gamestop selling used games and people lending games to their friends, renting games, and personally selling their copy.

I think that war will soon begin in the gaming market.

Developers vs Retailers vs Gamers

If you gamers are going to complain, the best way to fight back is with your wallet. You have the choice to either buy new games and support developers, buy used games and support Gamestop (Gamefly, ebay, etc), and you can stop pirating games too.

My method has always been to buy new if I am really interested, wait for a discount price I think is fair and then buy new, or buy used if the game is really old.

We've seen Microsoft give in to XBL charges on PC because people supported Steam, and we've seen the $15 Modern Warfare 2 map packs be huge successes, but what will come of this?

@Altairio
I couldnt have said it better myself what you and solace are saying I agree with totally. Thats why the Mass effect/ BF:BC2 model is better (I dont like it) then this

Honey attracts more then vinegar. Saying when you buy new you get additional content free is better then when you buy used you cant play the full game without still paying extra.... To fund the Dev

Sorry should be on the one below white me

This is pitiful. F*ck off, THQ, I'm never paying a dime for online play, and that includes one-time fees.

The only way I was considering buying this game was waiting for it used, but if you greedy D-bags want more money to play online, I guess I'll spend it on another game.

In other words: congratz, you just lost a customer. And I'm sure I won't be the only one.

The thing is... you weren't a customer to begin with. So they didn't lose anything. THQ makes exactly $0 for used copies of the games, which you said that you were going to buy. I'm not saying I don't agree with your stance (don't like charging for a code for used games), but your logic is off...

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THQ introduces its own 'Online Pass' in UFC 2010

Reader Comments (132)

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