Driver: San Francisco’s multiplayer is and will remain free
According to Ubisoft, the studio behind the game, Driver: San Francisco, the game’s online pass will not cost anything for gamers and will be free to play for everyone on a permanent basis.
With an increasing trend emerging where publishers are looking to introduce passes for online play of a game, the news that Ubisoft have not jumped on the boat just yet is refreshing. Sony and Electronic Arts have already announced their plans for implementing
the system, with the latter already doing so on their first person shooter game, Medal of Honor.
Called the Uplay Passport, Ubisoft was set to follow the trend set by other major players in the industry, but a surprise announcement which waived the Uplay Passport fee for the game suggested otherwise.
Most speculated that it was a temporary move, hoping to entice a few extra sales, though that turned out to be a false theory, as Ubisoft themselves came out and announced that the fee waive would remain permanent and Driver: San Francisco would not limit
online play to just one account.
Apart from reducing the number of reasons which cause sibling arguments and fights, a blessing to all parents who have children who game, the move was also welcomed by others in the gaming community as well. However, there is more to the story as the change
of heart came not out of charity but rather due to technical errors, as most of the Uplay Passport codes which came with the game did not work.
Ubisoft, in an effort to rectify the situation, decided to make the pass free for all in order to solve the issue. According to one of Ubisoft’s spokesperson, a printing error was to blame, “We wanted to make you aware of an issue with copies of Driver:
San Francisco. Due to a printing error on the insert of some copies of Driver: San Francisco in North America, Ubisoft has elected to provide the Driver Uplay Passport content for free.”
While it is good to know that publishers still care about gamers even after games have been sold, one must not forget that this may just be a shallow victory for gamers as one can expect the passport to come back with a vengeance in the future.
The statement continued and explained that in an effort to keep things fair, the passport was made free around the world, “Although this problem does not affect players outside of North America, we have decided to mirror this offer to everyone in the world
in order to be fair to all our players.”
Readers can expect more news and updates on the story as and when news breaks.
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