DICE: Battlefield 3 will probably feature some kind of online pass

Battlefield 3 is likely to feature some kind of online pass, the game's executive producer Patrick Bach has confirmed to GamerZines.

He said that players will "probably" have to register a code included along with new copies of the game in order to access its multiplayer modes.

However, he wasn't sure if we can call it an online pass:

"I don't think it's an online pass, I think it's our own backend. I'm not sure I want to call our system an online pass."

When asked if EA was demanding second-hand copy buyers to pay to play online, Bach said: "I think we are."

He was also quick to defend the company's move, and termed it as something which would help it pay for servers:

"The whole idea is that we're paying for servers and if you create a new account there is a big process on how that is being handled in the backend," said Bach.

!We would rather have you buy a new game than a used game because buying a used game is only a cost to us; we don't get a single dime from a used game, but we still need to create server space and everything for you.

"We want people to at least pay us something to create this because we're paying for it. It was actually a loss for us to have new players.

"Hopefully people understand why. It's not to punish people. To us it's compensation."