In an interview at a press event forWWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011this past weekend in Los Angeles, the game’s creative director, Cory Ledesma, lamented that used games are “an issue for the [videogame] industry.” This was in the context of explaining thatSvR 2011will be subject to alockout of online features behind a pack-in codelike the publisher’s mixed martial arts game,UFC Undisputed 2010, which launched in May. Similar to theEA Sports Online Pass,UFC 2010included a one-time-use code on the back of the game’s manual that had to be entered into the main menu in order to use the game’s online features.
But whereas THQ charged non-new buyers ofUFC 2010a $5 fee for online access, the company is “following suit with other publishers” — namely, EA Sports — forSvR 2011: new copies of the game will come with a code for which renters, borrowers, and used-game buyers will have to pay $10 (800 Microsoft Points). At least this time around, THQ is being transparent about the process; when it came toUFC 2010, the publisher only confirmed the existence of an online pass after players of pre-release copies found out about it.
The code forSvR 2011will also come with three pieces of downloadable content: WWE Superstar Chris Masters, a Kelly Kelly costume, and a Day of the Dead costume for Rey Mysterio. (Players who buy the code from the Xbox Live Marketplace or PlayStation Store will still receive the content.) And unlike withUFC 2010, THQ is joining EA in offering a seven-day free trial of online features for non-new buyers.
I’ll have much more onWWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, including a full preview, coming later today.
