Microsoft, you’ve set a dangerous precedent by allowing EA to operate it’s “Origin” platform through Xbox Live. This needs to stop before it gets out of hand.

Let’s take a look at exactly what’s happening: Microsoft charges a subscription fee for Xbox players to take advantage of Xbox Live (XBL) – the multiplayer gaming service which showed the world what console multiplayer gaming could be, before mainstream multiplayer gaming took off.

Players have to pay Microsoft for an XBL subscription if they want to be able to play multiplayer games with friends.

Origin is like Steam; it’s EA’s attempt at a digital distribution platform, and while it doesn’t currently require a subscription to use, it requires that players have an independent Origin account, and EA can force players to pay in order to play multiplayer games in some circumstances.

Origin really launched on consoles when the EA-published Battlefield 3 launched. When you put Battlefield 3 into your console for the first time to play multiplayer, you have to create an Origin account, then login with that account to play any form of multiplayer. What’s more, EA requires that you have a ‘battlepass’ to play. A battlepass is a code that comes inside of a game like Battlefield 3 – it’s one-time-use and console-specific.

If I lend Battlefield 3 to a friend (or sell it used to someone), they can’t use the original battlepass; they are required to pay $10 to purchase a new one in order to play Battlefield 3 online.

This is completely unacceptable given that players already have to pay a monthly subscription to Microsoft in order to play any multiplayer game. Specifically, we’re paying Microsoft to make the entire multiplayer experience seamless. Being required to either own a battlepass (which means buying a game new, or paying $10 for a new pass) to play certain titles is insane. Being required to create a new account that’s independent of XBL and then login with that account within an XBL title is the opposite of seamless.

If EA can charge us for a battlepass to play, why are we paying Microsoft? If Microsoft wants to keep our money, they need to stop this practice before too many people ask this question and turn their heads over to Sony, whose multiplayer platform, Playstation Network, is free to use. Microsoft might not realize it, but if they keep this up, they are slowly ceding power to game publishers (not developers, mind you), and this means slowly losing control of the XBL the platform.

As a paying XBL customer and gamer, Origin as a meta-service is incredibly annoying. I mentioned how I’m paying Microsoft an XBL subscription to make multiplayer gaming seamless, but I see no respect for that concept from Microsoft’s decision to let Origin operate as it does inside of XBL.

I purchased Battlefield 3 on launch-day. The battlepass was included. I also pay Microsoft monthly for an XBL subscription to let me play the multiplayer portion of the game. Say I want to take Battlefield 3 to a friend’s house to play with him on his Xbox. Even if my friend is a paying XBL member, we cannot play Battlefield 3 multiplayer on an Xbox that does not have a battlepass. Even if I brought my gamertag to my friend’s house on a memory stick and signed in with my own XBL subscription, we will still be barred from playing Battlefield 3 multiplayer because we haven’t payed for an additional battlepass. This is complete bullshit. I bought the game at retail, we both pay for the service, we both own an Xbox, and yet Microsoft is allowing a meta-service to block me from playing a game on the XBL platform. This is like BMW preventing anyone but the owner from driving their cars. No… this goes further than that – this is like BMW preventing anyone but the owner from driving the car AND preventing even the owner from driving the car if a friend payed for the gas.

Let’s not also forget that the battlepass will presumably be required for each individual game. So even if I have a Battlfield 3 battlepass, I’ll need to buy a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 battlepass if I buy that game used and want to play it online – and so on for every game that EA publishes with Origin attached. Considering how huge of a publisher EA is, this move is going to hurt the used-games market and take money out of the pockets of already strapped-for-cash gamers. If you ask me, they should be working to eliminate piracy rather than finding ways to get more money out of legitimate customers – after all, each pirated game is worth six battlepasses at full retail price.

Of course, all of this is EA’s attempt to stifle 'lost’ profit from games that are sold used. Anyone who buys Battlefield 3 used will have to pay EA $10 for a new battlepass if they want to play online (assuming the battlepass that originally shipped with the game has already been used) in addition to their XBL subscription. As a subscriber to XBL, I expect Microsoft to actively protect me from this sort of annoyance and meta-fees. So far they haven’t lifted a finger.

So Microsoft, I’m starting to wonder what I’m paying you for at all if you are allowing this sort of behavior to go on within your own multiplayer service. You’d better do something before people start asking the same question. Your move.