How EA killed the used game sales industry

Like most people, you probably expect to be able to play modern games online with (or against) your friends. It's a core feature of video gaming you've come to expect, like the ability to save progress or customize your character's appearance. Many of us even pay a $60 annual premium to do so on the Xbox, ever since Microsoft found a way to sell you the cow, AND charge for the milk. But now Electronic Arts wants a taste too, and they're going to great lengths to get it.

Enter "Project Ten Dollar."

Steadily losing money since 2007, the game developing/publishing giant recently turned its jealous, all-seeing eye to the one part of the industry that was still doing well (besides companies making cheaper and better games): the used game sales market. Dubbed "Project Ten Dollar", the initiative was the result of a brainstorming session held last year by EA's top executives desperate for some low-hanging fruit.

It started innocently enough, with the introduction of unlock codes sealed in new game packages, granting the original purchaser free access to downloadable content. But you guessed it, the codes were single-use only, leaving renters and buyers of used copies with no content. Conveniently, EA would then sell you the once-free content for a small fee; coincidentally about ten dollars. This was made famous recently by The Cerberus Network in Mass Effect 2.

That worked fine and kept the yachts stocked with coal, but curiously, people were still buying used games. This meant evil retailers like EB Games (GameStop) continued to make a profit by reselling games EA had already been paid for! More drastic measures were clearly needed. Fortunately, Tiger Woods happened.

While everyone was distracted by the bedroom antics of the King of Holes, EA launched the Online Pass offensive. The pass granted users access to "online services, feature and bonus content", and would be included with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and all EA Sports games going forward. All great stuff, assuming you wanted to play online. Which was also only accessible with an Online Pass.

But wait– didn't I already pay for access to online gaming?

You sure did, Billy! But you better have bought that game new, because chances are the original owner would have already used the Online Pass code. But don't worry, because you could still buy your way back onto the internet for – you guessed it again – ten dollars. Saving five bucks by buying used doesn't seem so smart now, huh?

Mission accomplished

So the Circle of Life was complete and EA was making money every time someone so much as thought about one of their games. Now that there was a financial deterrent in place to keep people from buying used games, there was still the small matter of revenge. Game retailers had sold and resold games for years with impunity, and it was time for their punishment.

Serendipitously, a class action lawsuit was filed March 23rd against GameStop. The suit alleged that the retailer was "fraudulently and deceptively misleading" its customers into thinking their used copies of games came with all kinds of free downloadable content advertised prominently on the game packaging. You know, that same box artwork that's produced by publishers like EA. Which will now likely have to be modified or painstakingly censored one at a time by GameStop, no doubt cutting further into their ill-gotten profits.

As luck would have it, the suit against GameStop was filed in California by a lawfirm based in California. Is it just a coincidence that EA is also based in the Golden State? How about the fact that Tiger Woods was born and raised there?