An Online Pass will be required to unlock an entire seven-quest storyline of EA's upcoming ARPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. As well as the Mass Effect 3 tie-in armor, the single-player-only title will feature a questline, House of Valor, whose seven missions aren't available without the entry of a one-time code. Second-hand players will be required to buy an as-yet-unpriced Online Pass to access the content.
EA calls the locked content a “free bonus” that will be available free-of-charge for buyers of new copies, or digital downloaders playing the game via services such as Steam or Origin. While Online Passes which block multiplayer features to discourage second-hand buyers are nothing new, the addition of single-player content behind a one-use code is a new rubicon for the industry's passive-aggressive war on second-hand games. Do you think this is fair play, or a troubling sign of things to come?
