Kingdoms of Amalur Online Pass is Bonus DLC, 38 Studios Clarifies

In order to quell some of the internet uproar over the Online Pass slapped on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios would like to point out that the House of Valor questline was never locked to gamers, but was in fact conceived as a standalone package and first DLC. 

Instead of holding onto it and charging for it later, we opted to give [the House of Valor and Mass Effect 3 tie-in content] to everyone who purchases the game now, for free, on launch day.

According to EA, all new purchasers will receive the bonus DLC no matter what channel they choose to use, be it retail or digital through Origin or Steam. Maybe EA’s marketing team will try harder to avoid the moniker “online pass” in the future. 

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will be released on PC, 360 and PS3 early February. The demo is still available as well.