EA extend Project Ten Dollar, adds 'Online Passes' for multiplayer

Currently EA uses the Project Ten Dollar initiative to encourage first-hand sales while being able to reap some money from second-hand too.

Now their latest idea is to add Online Passes to upcoming games with online content or services, so customers ”pay EA to access them.”

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 from EA Sports will be the first title with the new Online Pass, which will be given freely to those buying first-hand copies whereas those who opt to purchase trade-ins will have to cough up some dollars to get the code.

”We want to reserve EA Sports online services for people who pay EA to access them,” said senior VP Andrew Wilson of EA Sports, reports Eurogamer. Publishers get no money from the second-hand games market, so this is EA’s way of getting something out of it.

This means you’ll need to pay $10 to access multiplayer if you bought a second-hand copy of any future EA Sports title, which you can do through Xbox Live and PSN. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii July 2nd.