Electronic Arts has removed Star Wars Battlefront 2 microtransactions hours before the game launched today.
Responding to critical feedback from the community, which has already resulted in the new Star Wars game receiving an average 0.9 out of 10 rating from users on Metacritic, EA’s DICE studio issued the following statement:
Star Wars Battlefront 2 microtransactions statement
Our goal has always been to create the best possible game for all of you – devoted Star Wars fans and game players alike. We’ve also had an ongoing commitment to constantly listen, tune and evolve the experience as it grows. You’ve seen this with both the major adjustments, and polish, we have made over the past several weeks.
But as we approach the worldwide launch, it’s clear that many of you feel there are still challenges in the design. We’ve heard the concerns about potentially giving players unfair advantages. And we’ve heard that this is overshadowing an otherwise great game. This was never our intention.
Sorry we didn’t get this right. We hear you loud and clear, so we’re turning off all in-game purchases. We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning. This means that the option to purchase crystals in the game is now offline, and all progression will be earned through gameplay.
The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we’ve made changes to the game. We’ll share more details as we work through this. We have created a game that is built on your input, and it will continue to evolve and grow.
Star Wars Battlefront II is three times the size of the previous game, bringing to life a brand new Star Wars story, space battles, epic new multiplayer experiences across all three Star Wars eras, with more free content to come. We want you to enjoy it, so please keep your thoughts coming. And we will keep you updated on our progress.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 progression system causes backlash
Since fans started to catch wind of Star Wars Battlefront 2 microtransactions and progression system, which was holding back players from unlocking heroes such as Darth Vader for up to 40 hours, the backlash has been intense.
No doubt the move by EA will appease some fans, which should result in more sales, but it’s worth noting that the developer says that microtransactions will return at some point. So, it sounds that players that pick up Star Wars Battlefront 2 at launch will have a good chance to unlock a bulk of the content by progressing through the game, whereas players who purchase the game once microtransactions are re-introduced will have the option to speed up their progression with in-game purchases.
Essentially what will happen right now is that players won’t need to buy crystals to unlock new characters or upgrades, but can earn them in game. EA has essentially tweaked the system as industry analyst Daniel Ahmad said on Twitter earlier: “All that’s happening is EA tweaking the system to make it ‘fun and addictive’ instead of ‘intrusive and predatory’.”
The option to buy loot crates and crystals still appears in Star Wars Battlefront 2, but a transaction can’t be made until EA decides to switch it back on. Our guess, is that EA DICE won’t wait too long to rake in that sweet cash.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is now available to buy on PC, Xbox One and PS4.