Ed Boon, the executive producer of Mortal Kombat, has defended the use of an Online Pass system in a recent interview with Eurogamer. Mortal Kombat, which hits store-shelves across North America today, is the first game that uses an access code that limits access to online components for consumer who either rent the game, or buy it on the second-hand market.
In the interview, Boon indicates that the system is essential for developer NetherRealm Studios to recuperate the overall investments that went into the game. He states that when “somebody is re-selling our game and cutting us out of the sharing of the profits of the game, […] we need to do something to protect our investment.” All users are given 2 days of unlimited access to the online component of the game, but if players wish to gain unlimited access to the multiplayer, they will either need to purchase an online pass, or redeem the code that is included with all new copies of the game.
Publishers EA and THQ have been making use of a similar system for some time now, but Mortal Kombat is the first fighting game in which the system is included.
Woah there Mr. Boon, $20 is too much to charge for an online pass; even EA draws the line at $10. I am all for protecting developer investments, but not in charging that much for a pass for online, and not stating that it will help pay for servers (which these charges should ultimately cover). There will be DLC in the future too, so that will help recover the cost.
My bad Keck… I misread his quote. Mr. Boon doesn’t say the online pass costs 20 bucks, in fact, the price of the online pass is unmentioned in the interview. Apologies for the confusion. Today is just not my day -.-
It is confirmed to be $10 (Joystiq has a PSN Tuesday with all the updates to the store). It is ok, cause I was about to question business practices if that was the case (I don’t think they are that stupid to charge that much).