Ubisoft is abandoning its online pass for Driver: San Francisco following reports that some US players are receiving incorrect UPlay Passport codes with their original copies. Although the issue has yet to pop up outside of North America, the studio today announced it will be making the entirety of Driver: SF’s multiplayer content free for everyone across the globe, rather than charge second-hand purchasers an online access fee as originally planned.
“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,” wrote Ubisoft in an online statement, adding, “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.
To benefit from Ubisoft’s giveaway, players must select the ‘Start My 2-Day Free Trial’ in-game option, and click ‘Purchase UPlay Passport’. This method will work for all players – new or used – and grant full access to the game’s Film Director feature and 11 multiplayer modes. Players who have already purchased the UPlay Passport are instructed to contact Ubisoft.
Ubisoft’s latest From Dust PC DRM debacleleft the studio on shaky ground with more than a few gamers, so it makes sense on a PR level that the studio would ditch Driver: SF’s multiplayer fee at the first sign of trouble to avoid further ill-will. That’s not to say the UPlay Passport isn’t gone for good, just that this ride is on the house.
Sep 7, 2011