EA to Update Star Wars Battlefront II After Extreme Backlash

Star Wars Battlefront II doesn’t release until this Friday, but due to Electronic Arts’ controversial stance regarding the game’s microtransactions, the upcoming title has been garnering a lot more anger than excitement.

Microtransactions seem to be cropping up in major titles with an alarming frequency, but EA is has taken the concept to new heights with Battlefront II. The game incorporates loot boxes, which (at its most basic) allows players to spend their actual money on in-game currency, which can then be used to purchase items or random “loot”.

Rarely do microtransactions have a negative affect on players’ ability to progress in a game. In Overwatch, for example, loot boxes usually contain new emotes or skins for your heroes; but with Star Wars Battlefront II there are a few currency systems that are both tedious and unnecessary.

In Battlefront II, players earn credits by playing a variety of battles. Overtime, these points will unlock iconic Star Wars characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, or Princess Leia. The issue, though, is that EA set the number of credits needed to unlock these characters impossibly high, where it would have taken well over dozens of hours to just unlock just one character.

That is, of course, unless you want to pay real money to bypass this.

The backlash has been as swift as it is extreme. EA employees have received a slew of death threats, and Reddit certainly hasn’t been holding back on the criticism in what became the most down-voted post of all time after EA attempted to clarify. Due to the backlash, John Wasilczyk, executive producer of EA DICE, released a statement, explaining that “EA will be reducing the amount of credits needed to unlock the top heroes by 75%.”

Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will now be available for 15,000 credits; Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa for 10,000 credits; and Iden at 5,000 credits. Based on what we’ve seen in the trial, this amount will make earning these heroes an achievement, but one that will be accessible for all players.

You can read Wasilczyk’s full statement here. Drop your thoughts about all this in the comments below, and for those still picking the game up, Star Wars Battlefront II will be available on Friday, November 17 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.