After first abandoning the DRM requirement for the recently released Driver: San Francisco, Ubisoft is now announcing that the multiplayer section of the game will never require an online pass and will be free on all platforms forever. This announcement comes as a result of a printing error in US copies of the game — something to do with the UPlay Passport — and instead of Ubisoft playing the bad guy they have decided to simply do away with the online pass for this particular title.

While gamers might be counting their blessings with Ubisoft, there is still one more triple AAA title on the horizon which we expect to require the UPlay Passport: Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Driver: San Francisco gamers got off lucky — both in that it’s a pretty fantastic game and they get the multiplayer for free.

But the good news doesn’t stop there as Ubisoft has announced some DLC that will be arriving for Driver: SF in the coming weeks. First up are 12 new routes that will be launching on September 15th followed by a weekly one route offering for the following 10 weeks. That means Driver: San Francisco players will have access to 22 new routes by the time the year is up, along with unlimited access to multiplayer, all for no extra cost.

It seems like Ubisoft made the smart move with Driver: San Francisco, seeing as how the franchise was an unknown quantity after it’s last outing. With a game that has been well reviewed, and is making headway to be much more accessible across all platforms, you really can’t lose with Driver: San Francisco.

Does hearing about all of the free content that is now available make you interested in picking up Driver: San Francisco? Do you think that Ubisoft has become more of a gamer-friendly publisher in an effort to set themselves apart?

Driver: San Francisco is available now for the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360.

Source: CVG