According to the game’s executive producer Patrick Bach, players will most likely have to register a code that’s included with new copies of the game to access Battlefield 3’s multiplayer modes.
"I don’t think it’s an online pass. I think it’s our own backend. I’m not sure I want to call our system an online pass."
Players who purchase used copies of the game will have to purchase the pass in order to get online, which is expected to help EA pay for the servers it plans to set up for online play upon the game’s release.
"The whole idea is that we’re paying for servers and if you creat a new account there eis a big process on how that is being handled in the back end," said Bach, who bluntly explained the company’s reasons for setting up an online pass type of system.
"We would rather have you buy anew game than a used game because buying a used game is only a cost to us; we don’t get a single dime from a used game, but we still need to create server space and everything for you," he said in an interview with GamerZines.
"We want people to at least pay us something to create this because we’re paying for it. It was actually a loss for us to have new players."
Bach’s stance is not surprising. That said, the implementation of the online pass will be no different from those of the previous Battlefield titles, which required a one-time use serial key for account registration. Only those who play the game on the console will see any difference.
