Sony has confirmed that they will indeed be instituting this program, and it will be “game specific”. In a nice bit or PR spin, Sony says that the program will “accelerate its commitment to enhancing premium online services” in its first-party line-up.
According to a SCEE statement:
“We are always evaluating new programs for our online offering, and starting with Resistance 3 this September, we will be instituting a network pass program for PS3 games with online capabilities.”
“This program will be game-specific. Games that are a part of this program will include a single-use registration code that grants the account holder redeeming the code full online access for that title.
“This is an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio.”
Sony had already experimented with this sort of program with the PSP releases of SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 and ModNation Racers.