EA’s Syndicate Will Not Use “Collect $10 Before Online Passing Go” Model

OK, EA, you win. We’re confused.

First, you’ve got an “online pass” for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (right… sorry… early DLC bonus for launch buyer extravaganza pass), a game that features no online content. Now, you’ve announced that Syndicate, a game that has a pretty interesting and robust multiplayer component isn’t going to have a pass to access that key feature? I’m sure there is some Sun Tzu quote for this, but it’s escaping me at the moment.

The news about Syndicate was confirmed yesterday when EA Partners Executive Producer, Jeff Gamon, spoke with Eurogamer.

“We want as little resistance or barriers to entry as possible,” Gamon said. “The co-op is equal billing in this. We wanted everyone who owns a copy of the game to have access to the entire product.”

EA has been at the forefront of the online pass movement, but allows EA Partners to duck the rule. That means you’ll be able to shoot, breach and chip-rip both offline and online without that pesky code-entering process when Syndicate arrives on February 21 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.