Single-player downloadable content for the PC versions of Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3 will be available for free going forward. The change—which EA is announcing via apparent emails to some Origin users—comes alongside the pending shutdown of the BioWare Points digital currency system.

Those BioWare Points used to be the only way to purchase DLC for the developer’s legacy titles. And because those points rarely went on sale, the price of that DLC relative to the heavily discounted base games would sometimes get a little ridiculous. As an angry change.org petition noted in 2015, “to purchase enough BioWare Points to own all DLC for the [Mass Effect] series would total $105; over 3 times the cost of all three base games.”

In 2017, though, EA released moderately priced DLC bundles for its legacy BioWare titles, making it much more affordable and convenient to purchase story-based expansions and content packs that offer more character customization options.

While those DLC packs are still listed for sale on Origin, users can now get the same DLC by going through the “Extra Content” option in their games library. All Mass Effect DLC is also included as part of the recently released Legendary Edition.

Many users also expressed frustration with the fact that BioWare Points were only sold in bundles of 800, often leaving them with leftover points after making DLC purchases that didn’t divide evenly into point packages. Players who currently have BioWare Points will be able to spend them on Mass Effect 3 multiplayer packs until October 11, EA writes. After that, those points will no longer be usable, and multiplayer packs will only be purchasable with in-game currency earned through gameplay.

DLC and other content previously purchased with BioWare Points will still be accessible, EA writes. That’s in sharp contrast to Ubisoft, which announced last week that a coming server shutdown means DLC purchases from PC games like Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 will no longer be playable after September 1.

BioWare recently revealed Dreadwolf as the title for the next Dragon Age game, which won’t release until 2023 at the earliest. And in 2020, the company launched a teaser trailer promising that “Mass Effect will return.” https://arstechnica.com/?p=1866778