Variety Friday: Online Passes

More and more games are including codes in new copies that are required to access certain in game content.  Now, is doing this actually good? I say no.  Specifically when these codes are required to access content that is part of the main game is when this is really bad.  Because from a development standpoint, it ultimately means that content that a lot of developers put tons of hard work into will end up being seen and played by less people.  It’s never good to purposely limit the amount of people who experience a game, because if they are limited to what they can do they’re probably less likely to buy DLC or any sequels.

The reason I’m bringing this up, is that I recently got Saints Row 3 from Gamefly, and when I went to try some co-op with Allan Muir, I got a message saying I needed to activate a multiplayer code.  First off I didn’t even know I needed a code, but it’s also limiting me from experiencing the full game because Saints Row is based a lot around fucking around alone, as well as with a friend.  Now because I couldn’t experience a rather large part of the game, my opinion of it dropped and now I don’t even what to buy it anymore, or recommend it because it limited me from experiencing the full game and thus limits my opinion and understanding of it.

Now while some may argue that it’s your fault for not buying the game, I don’t think that’s a valid argument.  Because while I may not have given the developers my money, that doesn’t mean I won’t later, but making me possibly not like the game because I can’t experience a part of it, doesn’t make me want to buy it.  Also, games are an art form, and while this doesn’t really apply to AAA titles because usually they just want to make money, the more people who experience it, the better.  Finally, not buying the game doesn’t mean I’ll never give the developers money because I may buy DLC or future games, but making someone dislike one game by limiting their overall experience makes them less likely to buy any future titles.

Now if developers do feel like they need a way to get more people to buy the full game; instead of limiting those that don’t buy it, reward those who do.  Instead of taking away part of the game, provide those who buy the game with free DLC or additional content which isn’t part of the overall game experience.  Take Dragon Age: Origins for example; instead of limiting the game, they gave the players around $20 of free DLC which included an additional companion which could be used and talk to throughout the whole campaign with his own missions, just like any other companion, but without him the game isn’t limited in any way and you don’t miss out on all that much.  The players who didn’t buy it still get the option of buying the DLC, but they still get to experience the whole game the way it was meant to be.

Also this is a good time for me to say: Thanks Gamefly for including any original codes that came with the game whenever someone buys a used game from you.  This is why this article was more directed towards people who rent games for long periods of time, rather than used purchases.