Battlefield 3 is yet another Online Pass-enabled game, try to act surprised

By Adam Rosenberg Published October 14, 2011

Battlefield 3 MAN-DOWN — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In just a few weeks, Electronic Arts and DICE will at long last release Battlefield 3. The multiplayer is a pretty big deal for that game, as most of you are probably aware. That can only mean one thing: Online Pass time.

DICE’s Alan Kertz, the core gameplay designer on Battlefield 3, confirmed the minor detail earlier this week on Twitter. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, what with EA already having said that its future releases will all have their multiplayer locked down behind a redemption code included with all new copies of the game.

Recommended Videos

The idea behind initiatives such as this one is to stem some of the losses that publishers feel from the used games market. If someone purchases a used copy of a game, they’re forced to spend a little bit extra, typically around $10, to unlock access to the game’s multiplayer. It’s money that goes directly to the publisher, offsetting the loss that is incurred every time a used game is sold rather than a new copy.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

Battlefield V to get final stand-alone update in June, weekly rewards to follow

Reinforcement Tank in Battlefield V's Firestorm

DICE, the studio behind Battlefield V, revealed that the first-person shooter will receive its final standalone update in the summer, though the developer will continue working on some aspects of the game.

Battlefield V's Chapter 6, Into the Jungle, will end on April 29. The game's senior producer, Ryan McArthur, said in a blog post on the Electronic Arts website that DICE will roll out one more standalone update in June that will include new content and weapons, in addition to game tweaks.

Gaming

Neverwinter Nights just received a new update, 23 years after its original release

A screenshot from Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition.

The 2002 RPG Neverwinter Nights is a masterclass in game design. Now 23 years old, the community behind Neverwinter Nights has kept the game alive and active all this time — and it has been given a new, unofficial update "by unpaid software engineers from the NWN community." This patch includes several quality-of-life improvements, graphical fixes, and performance boosts to keep the game running smoothly on modern hardware. For reference, roughly a year after Neverwinter Nights, BioWare released the cult-classic Knights of the Old Republic. BioWare was at the height of its prowess with regard to storytelling and gameplay.

Despite the game's age, it still has a long-standing community of fans and creators that give Neverwinter Nights nearly unlimited replayability. In addition to The Wailing Death campaign that comes with the original release of the game, Neverwinter Nights also has two other campaigns: Horde of the Underdark and Shadows of the Undrentide. If none of those tickle your fancy, then the fan-made campaigns might be the place to look. Think about it like a homebrew DnD campaign, except that it's all programmed for you to play through at your leisure. There are dozens of fan-made campaigns to choose from, many of which are on-par with original Wizards of the Coast content in terms of quality.

Audio / Video

You Asked: What’s the most impressive thing you saw at CES?

You Asked CES Editors Cut

On today’s special edition of You Asked, we tracked down each of our editors and put them on the spot to find out what they thought was the most impressive thing they saw at CES 2025 in Early January. Let’s find out what they had to say.
Panasonic Z95B

There’s been some really cool TV tech at CES, but the thing I’m most excited about is the new Panasonic Z95B. Instead of the regular OLED display structure we’ve seen in recent years with MLA technology, this uses a four-layer panel structure. It features individual red, green, and blue layers (two of the latter) for the emissive light.