Ubisoft confirms Uplay Passport online program

Yesterday, it was rumored that Ubisoft would join major publishers Sony, THQ, Warner Bros., and Electronic Arts in offering an online pass for its games called the Uplay Passport. Today, the French publisher has made it official, confirming the program and detailing it.

The Uplay Passport will come bundled with new copies of Ubisoft's "core" games, beginning this August with the racing game Driver: San Francisco. The onetime-use code will give gamers full access to the game's online modes as well as unspecified "exclusive" additional content.

According to Ubisoft, the Uplay Passport is an "adjunct" to Uplay, the in-game achievement service that launched with 2009's Assassin's Creed II and is still in beta.

The publisher did not specifically name upcoming games that will use the Uplay Passport, but Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon, and Far Cry games fit the publisher's "core" description.

Gamers who borrow, rent, or purchase a Uplay Passport-enhanced game secondhand will need to pay $10 for the pass. For more on the first title to use the Uplay Passport, check out GameSpot's latest review of Driver: San Francisco.