I expect this is what Project Ten Dollar’s next phase will look like. “Gimme the cassshhh!”

Project Ten Dollar, for those of you who don’t know, is the name of EA’s master plan to take more of your money.  At its inception, the basic premise was this: if you buy a game new, you get access to certain in-game features (maps, unlocks, skins, etc.).  If you buy a used copy of the same game, you can’t access these features unless you give EA $10 for some manner of code which makes them available to you.  When a consumer sells a used game back to a store, and then when the store resells that game, EA doesn’t see any of that money.  This is what Project Ten Dollar was created to curb.

At this level, I personally don’t have much of a problem with it.  It seems kind of sketchy, sure, but as long as the game is still a playable, full experience, I suppose one can’t get too upset over it.

Then comes the announcement of PTD (sounds like an STD, no?) phase 2: EA Sports Online Pass.  Via Joystiq:

Starting with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, out June 8, EA Sports games for PS3 and Xbox 360 will include a title-specific “Online Pass” that enables access to “online services, features, and bonus content.” If the code has already been redeemed (i.e. if you bought the game used) additional Online Passes will be available for (you guessed it!) ten dollars. Each game will include a seven-day free trial.

The online services under the Online Pass vary by game, but an EA rep told us they can include basic online multiplayer, as well as group/league features, roster and playbook updates, downloads of user-created content (like Photo Game Faces) and tournament support.

Having only bought a used game a handful of times (and almost always to replace a lost or damaged copy of something I had already bought new), this admittedly doesn’t affect me very much.  But it still just doesn’t feel…right. If the game is designed from the get-go to have “online services” — a deliberately vague term which could apply to anything that happens online, including multiplayer — then a consumer who purchases it used is denied the complete game.  I can’t think of any other industry that follows this business model, and it’s actually kind of frightening to think of what could happen if EA is successful.  Will movie studios employ DRM on DVDs and Blu-Rays that only allows certain scenes to be watched unless you purchase a new copy?  Will print publishers withhold certain chapters of a book that’s bought second-hand?  Will car manufacturers charge a fee to used car buyers just so they can use their headlights?  Maybe I should stop positing.  I don’t want to give GM any ideas on how to pay off their bailout.

I think this feels wrong to me because EA is attempting to profit from a single product twice.  When someone buys a used game, is EA really entitled to any money?  They produced one unit and sold it.  If a consumer sells a unit back to a store, it does not magically become a newly produced copy.  Obviously when you’re dealing with intellectual property it becomes difficult to speak in black and white terms.  But to my knowledge, this is a practice that is altogether foreign to other creative and artistic industries (i.e. film, music, books, etc.).

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming year as the bottom line will surely decide the fate of Project Ten Dollar.  And make no mistake: used games are big business.  Current numbers are a little difficult to nail down, but GameStop’s used game sales were projected to reach $2 billion in 2009, and reportedly brought in $548.5 million in Q1 2009 alone.  No wonder EA wants a little piece of the pie.

One last thing to note: EA’s Online Pass page makes no mention of this measure being on PC.  This could simply be because Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, the first title to employ Online Pass, doesn’t seem to be making its way to PC, but I can’t say for sure.  Something to keep an eye on.