EA begins to undo Online Pass as Xbox 360 DLC goes free

By Michael Rougeau May 30, 2013

mass_effect_2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Downloadable content for a number of older Electronics Arts games became free today on Xbox 360 as the publisher began the process of eliminating its online pass program, as pointed out by NeoGAF user Vert Boil.

The newly free content includes American McGee’s Alice (which was pack-in DLC with new copies of its sequel, Alice: Madness Returns), the Battlefield Bad Company 2 VIP pass, Bulletstorm‘s online pass, the Dragon Age: Origins character “The Stone Prisoner,” Dragon Age 2‘s “The Black Emporium,” the online pass for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Mass Effect 2‘s Cerberus Network, Skate 3‘s Skate Share Pack, and the online passes for Medal of Honor and SHIFT 2 Unleashed.

EA issued a statement to Game Informer indicating that the price cuts will head to other platforms, including PlayStation 3, in the coming weeks. “As we discontinue Online Pass for our new EA titles, we are also in the process of eliminating it from all our existing EA titles as well,” the EA spokesperson wrote. “We heard the feedback from players and decided to do away with Online Pass altogether.

“Players will see it first with some EA Sports titles, where a prompt to enter an Online Pass code will no longer appear in-game; with other titles we are simply making Online Passes available free of charge online. These are rolling updates that are taking effect over the next several weeks. We hope players continue to enjoy our games and online services for a long time to come.”

Michael Rougeau

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mike Rougeau is a journalist and writer who lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and two dogs. He specializes in video…

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