Ubisoft has announced that it will no longer implement online pass policies in any future games after some Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag players found they couldn't use the game's "Edward's Fleet" online companion app.
The app makes generating money and resources easier and requires that you play your console game online to connect the two. Without a Uplay code inside every new copy of Assassin's Creed IV, you simply can't access the spoils you get messing around at work.
Ubisoft has been the bane of PC gamers in the past with strict always-connected DRM in single player games like Assassin's Creed. This is a great move and ties up a loose end I'd say Ubisoft has left dangling.
Electronic Arts, arguably the inventor of online pass schemes, dropped them and freed up all of the content tied to online passes since the program started including Mass Effect DLC packs and online multiplayer in countless sports games.
Truly, people who can only play their games offline wish they could pay for online services like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live, but don't because they know they won't get the value out of it or they can't afford it. That's why the Xbox One is better with always-online. All the great Xbox software is online enabled and made better for the online interactions you can have.
This move just makes sense. Ding, dong the witch is dead? What's the verdict here guys? Online passes were always stupid, right?
Read Nick Tan's review of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag.
[Kotaku]
