Those of you who purchased APB before its demise are likely aware that Electronic Arts, as distributor, is offering out free games if you can prove that you once owned the crashed MMO. Over multiple forums, players are reporting getting everything from Bioware bucks (that can be used to buy full games), EA store credit, and full games of the player’s choosing. If you are one of those players, you might want to check yourself before you email EA about the silent promotion, especially if you preordered APB.
I found out the hard way that Electronic Arts is only allowing people who purchased APB from July 15th onward into the program, and everyone else is out of luck. As the customer service rep put it:
I understand your frustration over this issue but there are a few things to remember. Real Time Worlds was the owner of the servers for this game, as well as the owner to the rights of the game as well, EA is simply trying to help out its customers through goodwill as we have no responsibility to refund or issue free games to customers for something out of our control.
I’ll reiterate an important lesson I brought forward in another MMO Fallout article: It is rarely a good idea to pre-order an MMO. If you just have to preorder an upcoming title, however, ensure you order it directly from the publisher, not from the developer or Steam or other platforms. This way, if the developer goes belly up two months after the game ships, and are unavailable/bankrupt, you can still go after the publisher for a chargeback I mean, compensation.
Otherwise, you can always file a complaint against Electronic Arts with the Federal Trade Commission. https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
MMO Fallout 