Continuing the fight against used-game sales, Ubisoft has added its $9.99 Uplay Passport to the assortment of deterrents on the market. While the publisher has described Uplay Passport in saccharine terms, it’s simply charging gamers additional money for daring to buy used. Here’s more from Gamasutra:
Ubisoft has confirmed the Passport’s existence today, saying the feature will “provide players with access to bonus content, exclusive offers, and online multiplayer play” for “many of Ubisoft’s popular core games,” including Driver: San Francisco.
You can pretty much ignore the “bonus content” and “exclusive offers” drivel. This is just another publisher charging another fee that discourages buying used games.
I know that several of you have railed on EA and THQ for offering “$10 solutions”. How do you feel about Ubisoft’s Uplay Passport? Are you going to shy away from the company’s games? Does it impact your purchasing decision at all? Or are you starting to get numb to the practice and have accepted that this is just the way of the used-game world now?
I won't buy any game that does this. I like to rent games and online play means little to nothing to me. Bonus content is usually crap also or the codes come out online anyway.
Why doesn't someone really nail them with a question like:
"Since the xbox 360 users pay for a P2P connection (laughable on its own) why exactly do you charge for multiplayer?"
I can see where there may be an argument on the Sony side….but even then you aren't creating a copy of the game and increasing server capacity. You still only have that 1 key active. Too bad most of the younger crowd shrugs this off as "It's only 10 bucks. Go to McDonald's two times less this month!". Idiots.
I really like Uplay. Ubisoft is one company that I will always buy new from because I am rarely let down by them. Within most of the popular Ubi games you can unlock Upoints (basically achievements) that can be used to get some freebies on select titles. I just unlocked Normandy Beach for R.U.S.E, a DLC character for Assassins Creed BH, and a new gun for Splinter Cell Conviction. I can't complain for getting more than achievements from a new game.