Online Pass boosts net play

Publisher EA has said that its first two titles to include an Online Pass – an in-box DLC code that is required to access some of the online features of the game – have both seen higher rates of online play than last year’s iterations.

Though Tiger Woods 11 and Madden NFL 11 are the only games to date to support the new EA Sports initiative, expect most if not all PS3 and Xbox 360 releases form the publisher to do so going forwards.

We are pleased to see 60 to 70 per cent of online connected users redeeming the code,” COO John Schappert told investors, as reported by IGN. The level of online play amongst our user base is up from last year, and revenue from paid downloadable content is also up.”

However, Schappert would not be drawn on how the introduction of Online Pass has affected pre-owned sales of the game, as those buying second hand need to pay an extra fee to use Online Pass benefits.

It’s too early to tell,” he claimed. What we are encouraged by is we are seeing more people play online on both of those titles, so it’s certainly is not holding them back. We think the extra gift, if you will, when you activate your online pass is driving some of that adoption.”