EA's DLC

Have you ever heard an argument and felt like you knew you should take a side, but you couldn't? That's where I'm at right now. There is a growing trend among game developers to attempt to kill, or at least stifle, the booming used game industry using free downloadable content with the purchase of an unused game. Anyone who purchases a used copy will have to pay $10 extra to access the same features.

Now, I am not exactly against this. This is still a business and these companies do deserve to make some money. This is a reasonable solution, all in all. It allows gamers to get games second hand and save a bit of money initially, and then pay the extra when they can afford it if they so choose. Despite the arguments back and forth from all parties involved, I think that if we examine this like rational people, it's a good plan.

Which is why I am so amazingly dumbfounded as to why EA Sports felt they had to mess it up.

Starting in June with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, EA Sports will be implementing it new "Online Pass" program. The program will do pretty much everything that regular "Day One DLC" does, but with a catch: You won't be able to play online without one. Let me be frank: This is a very bad idea.

Regular DLC plans never limited a player's ability to actually play the game, but that is exactly what this new program will do for some games. It's 2010 and the days of only playing offline and alone are long gone. Online gaming is at an all time high and there are even some games, I'm looking at you Modern Warfare 2, that have little in the way of offline, single player value. I can understand what EA Sports is trying to do here, but this isn't the way. XBOX Live users already pay a fee to get online. They do no need to pay another just to play the game.

Thankfully this is only happening at one company so far, and one whose games I've never been a fan of, but I am concerned with this catching on. Gamers don't hate game developers, and we don't want them to go under. As long as they are willing to work with gamers using systems like "Project Ten Dollar", then we will continue to support them. But the system EA Sports has implemented is not an example of working with us. It's working against us.

EA Sports: Most gamers play online now. And most games support online play. Don't try to take this away. I promise, it isn't going to make gamers want to pay that extra money for you. It will only make them stop buying your games.