Ubisoft may soon take a page from EA's book and start monetizing used games by charging extra to unlock functionality or content that would otherwise be available with new games. In a post-earnings conference call today, the company's CFO Alain Martinez answered an analyst's question on this issue, saying, "we are looking very carefully at what EA is doing regarding what we call 'the $10 solution,' and we will probably follow that line sometime in the future."
In case you are not aware of EA's recent integration, they have begun bundling a one-use only "Online Pass" with their sports titles that will be required to enjoy the game over Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. These passes are included for free with new copies of games, but second hand buyers will have to purchase another pass for $10.
Whether such as system is warranted has been a topic of debate -- it helps publishers recoup the lack of revenue from used games sales and also fight piracy. We wouldn't be surprised to see others like Ubisoft following suit, but it surely won't sit well with the millions of people who rent, trade and purchase used games. After Martinez's comment, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot weighed in by saying that the system was already in place since last year, and so far it has been used only to offer additional content to customers buying their games in specific stores.
