Does the PC need Online Passes?

Everyone knows all about Online Passes by now; they're popping up more and more in games to help publishers/developers combat used game sales (and piracy to some extents). Consoles have been seeing more games release with Online Passes with companies like Sony, Ubisoft, EA, id Software, and more getting behind the idea. This practice has been met with some resistance though for the most part gamers have accepted this as the new standard.

At first these Online Passes were used to simply lock out multiplayer modes with developers/publishers citing this would allow them to keep servers up and running due to new players joining games through used game sales. As time went on this would spread into single player content; most notably with 2011's RAGE. In fact it was RAGE that got me to really start paying attention to the issues here when I picked up my copy on release day.

I had pre-ordered RAGE several months before release, long before I knew about the Online Pass though when it was announced I didn't mind since I was buying new. I was also purchasing the game for my PC wanting to get the best performance I could. RAGE was also going to use Steamworks which meant I'd be adding the game to my massive library on Steam and this was a huge plus in my opinion. Not only would I have the physical copy but I'd also own the digital version too. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I had to enter an Online Pass code so I could access the bonus missions which were already installed on my system.

With RAGE the Online Pass was only slightly annoying to begin; it didn't take that much time to activate the code through Steam. Not that it made much of a difference as RAGE was unplayable for me at launch on my desktop and my laptop. So RAGE went on the shelf until it was patched and id Software got it running for me.

I didn't play RAGE again until two weeks later, once I was deployed to the Middle East and I had it installed on my laptop. Again imagine my surprise when I found that those bonus missions were still locked despite having used the Online Pass code. Sending id Software several emails over the issue yielded little to no results as the first was completely ignored before I received several generic responses telling me to do things I had already done. Eventually id Software washed their hands of the situation telling me to contact Valve as the problem was now with Steam, not their system.

This got me thinking though of why this system was here. Steamworks is used as Digital Rights Management to keep players from pirating games and also once you activate a game via Steam you can't sell it since the CD Key is tied to your account. At that point the disk is completely useless with my ability to install straight from Steam. Now why is there an Online Pass system for a game that won't have any used sales on this platform? Thinking about this further this content could easily be unlocked through piracy as we've seen in many cases where the DRM has been bypassed via hackers.

From Battlefield 3 not needing Origin or Assassin's Creed 2 not requiring a constant internet connection these types of deterrent are often quickly bypassed and I doubt this would be something hackers couldn't get access to. So why is this here? What purpose does it serve? The consoles I can (some what) understand as I can walk into any Gamestop, log onto Amazon or EBay, and purchase this (and many other games) used without any issue. I still don't agree with their use in games as the used game market has been around for some time and other developers have a far better solution than locking gamers out of content.

Some major players in the gaming industry feel that Online Passes and other forms of DRM aren't the way to combat used sales or fight piracy. David Jaffe creator of Twisted Metal and God of War made it known that he doesn't want Online Passes in Twisted Metal. Marcin Iwinski the CEO and co-founder of CD Projekt Red, the company behind The Witcher series and Good Old Games, recently spoke with PC Gamer on his feelings about DRM. CD Projekt Red is widely against DRM going as far as to launch Good Old Games which is a digital distribution service which features no DRM. Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director of Valve, spoke out about piracy claiming it was more often a lack of service than it was an issue with price.

Valve also follows closely to CD Projekt Red's mindset of making a purchase worth the price and giving gamers reasons to buy the game instead of pirating. This is done in the form of updates and free content offered up through their servers. The Witcher and its sequel both saw massive updates that added new content, improved game performance, and addressed issues gamers had. Team Fortress 2 saw numerous updates which added new maps, gameplay modes, and other things like that while the Left 4 Dead series saw free campaigns and game modes released.

Online Passes, for now, are here to stay but for how long? Though few and far between there are a number of developers who oppose the idea of limiting the product we purchase. For the PC platform it seems completely unnecessary as services like Steam already address the issues Online Passes are designed to combat. It is my hope that the ideas Valve and CD Projekt Red have will catch on because at the end of the day we as gamers benefit most through their support and by receiving a far superior product. To me that is what needs to be supported and where developers should be focusing, not on more ways to get money out of my pocket and into their own.