[Update] Today, Ubisoft has confirmed that Uplay Passport is indeed here. The Uplay Passport is a one-time redeemable code that allows access to a game's online mode. It will be included free with select Ubisoft titles beginning with Driver: San Francisco. Buying the game secondhand will require you to purchase the pass separately for $9.99 from the PlayStation Store or Xbox LIVE.
[Original Story] The gaming community made a big stink about Sony announcing a "PSN Pass" that forces anyone buying select Sony titles secondhand to purchase a separate $10 pass. The pass is included for free with new copies of each game, following an industry trend already used by other publishers such as EA and THQ.
Yet another publisher has joined the money-mooching bandwagon and will be introducing an online pass of their own. Ubisoft is rumored to reveal the Uplay Passport, a $10 code that enables select Ubisoft title's online modes. The first game said to be including this Uplay Passport will be Driver: San Francisco.
New copies of Driver: San Francisco will include one of these Uplay Passports for free, but anyone buying the title used or renting it will have to fork over $10 to access the game's online mode.
This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone; this is the way things work now. And don't blame the publishers (and certainly not the developers), blame the used game sales system. I call it money-mooching above, but I can understand where these publishers are coming from. They make absolutely nothing from used game sales, which eats into their profit margins.
You don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it, but you definitely have to get used to it. Expect any remaining publishers without a pass to introduce one before the holiday onslaught of blockbuster releases.
[Source]
