THQ Joins EA In Charging For Online With UFC

EA Sports might have made waves when it introduced its $10 "Online Pass" requirement to play used EA Sports games online, but it's starting to look like the label was simply the first of many -- publisher THQ's now the latest to test out the model with its UFC Undisputed 2010. The company confirmed to consumer website Destructoid that new copies of the game will come with a code for online play, but those who buy the game used will need to pay $5 for another code if they want to play online. Although that's half what EA Sports is charging, EA Sports is offering free demos of online features so that users can see what they'd be getting; it doesn't seem like THQ is doing the same. Publisher Ubisoft recently said it would very likely pursue a similar solution for its own games: "We are looking very carefully at what is being done by EA regarding what we call the '$10 solution,' and we will probably follow that line at sometime in the future," CFO Alain Martinez said. The online pay-wall is partially intended to create a value-add for new games that discourages used purchases, the volume of which has been detracting from publisher revenue. However, it seems companies can implement solutions like these in a fashion that doesn't alienate their retail partners. GameStop praised EA's Online Pass at the time it was announced, as it is hoping to be able to sell downloadable content to gamers.