EA is completely removing BioWare Points. DLC for the first Dragon Age and Mass Effect become free
When the infrastructure for downloadable add-ons on PC was not yet formed, BioWare sold DLC for its games for BioWare Points: you bought special points on the company's website, and then spent those points on add-ons for Mass Effect and Dragon Age. After 10 years, EA is finally abandoning this system completely.
As written on Reddit, EA has started sending an explanation letter to Origin users:
- Starting October 11, 2022, BioWare Points will be completely removed from the Origin store. Other currencies for BioWare games (such as crystals or platinum) remain in place.
- Most DLC for games that used to be distributed with BioWare Points are now free.
- BioWare Points can be purchased if you want to buy more multiplayer loot boxes for Mass Effect 3. After October 11, the boxes will only be available for in-game credits.
- All content previously purchased with BioWare Points will continue to be available.
DLCs become free in four games:
- Dragon Age: Origins,
- Dragon Age II,
- Mass effect 2,
- Mass Effect 3 (except loot boxes).
You can pick up DLC through your Origin library in the Add-ons section of each listed game. It seems that the offer does not apply to Steam: those add-ons that are in the Valve store continue to be sold for money.
Users did not like BioWare Points: they were sold only in certain amounts and did not have discounts. This created an absurd situation: the base game could be grabbed for next to nothing at a sale, but much more had to be spent on DLC. At some point, EA simplified the scheme slightly and integrated BioWare Points into Origin, removing the need to purchase them on a separate BioWare site.
If you buy the listed games now, the situation with DLC turns out to be softer: for Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II there are sets with all additions, and Mass Effect has a Legendary Edition, where key additions are included by default.
