Sony has officially announced its PSN Pass service, which is said to limit the number of times a game is used.Select new games will come with an activation code which allows full access to the content, but if the game is sold on the used market, second-hand buyers will be required to purchase a PSN Pass code to unlock the game. This initiative is a process to help bring revenues back to the game developers. When games go on sale on the used market, developers do not make any profits on used purchases. They only profit from the first time buyer, but games could be sold many times, allowing the used game dealers to cash in easily without passing some of the profits to the developers themselves.
Electronic Arts and THQ have already jumped on the train, promising that all copies of Resistance 3for the PS3 will come with a one-time pass code for first time buyers. So far the PSN Pass program is game specific, leaving the option of adding the pass code up to the developers.The SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) has expressed that game developers have been robbed of earnings because of the lucrative used-market, and they are trying to take back a piece of the pie to help motivate developers to continue working and outputting great games. We are totally in support of the move, if it does help developers to put the extra ounce of awesomeness into the developing process. Electronic Arts also has such an initiative called the EA Online Pass, funny how EA are the first company to jump on board with this idea...
