Mass Effect 3 requires one-time activation on PC, lacks local co-op

When you boot up Mass Effect 3 on your PC next March, you’re going to want to make sure you have something first: a working internet connection. Before you throw your monitor into a china cabinet or something, it’s not like that.

Rather than going the Ubisoft route, which is to require a constant internet connection, causing unneeded frustration, Mass Effect 3 will only require a one-time activation process, and to carry out that process, you’ll naturally need an internet connection to do it. After you’ve activated the game, you’ll be able to play offline whenever you want.

Now onto the bad news, at least if you’re into playing co-op.

In the same Q&A that BioWare’s Jesse Houston confirmed the one-time activation for Mass Effect 3 on PC, Houston also revealed that the PC won’t have LAN support for co-op, nor will consoles have split-screen co-op support.

On the bright side, Houston said that it’s not out of the realm of possibility that BioWare will add in support for local co-op at some point after release, saying “It is definitely on the table as something we might add.”

You can check out the Q&A in its entirety by heading over to this link.

Mass Effect 3 is due out on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 6, 2012 in North America, March 9, 2012 in Europe.