Star Wars Battlefront 2 Microtransactions Dropped Temporarily
EA and Dice have decided to temporarily pull microtransactions from Star Wars Battlefront 2. This is their response to the ongoing controversy and fan anger. So, for the time being, you won’t be able to purchase crystals in the game. You can only earn stuff is to play the game. Of course, they’ll put the microtransactions back into the game at a later date.
To say that fan outrage with Battlefront 2 has reached boiling point would be the understatement of the week. At least. The fans have caused such a ruckus, as they well should have, that some European gambling officials have started looking into loot boxes. As of writing this article, the Belgian Gaming Commission and the Dutch Gambling Authority are investigating it. On top of that, there’s the ongoing PR disaster on Reddit, the controversy of slashing rewards along with prices of heroes, and so on. It’s a huge mess. So, in an attempt to reel the whole thing in, EA and Dice have decided to pull microtransactions from Battlefront 2 for the time being.
The dropping of microtransactions was announced in a post by Oskar Garielson of Dice. If you want to read the full post, it’s on the Battlefront 2 website. Much of it has the same tone as the answers on the ill-fated AMA. It does, however, include a kinda sorta apology. I recommend reading it only if you want to retain your anger with EA. That said, here’s the key part, addressing the microtransactions:
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.
On the surface, this might seem like a victory, no matter how small. However, it’s only the first step. For one, this gives the players that have already purchased a ton of loot crates an even greater edge. Also, they will definitely add the microtransactions back at some point. So, all in all, this decision is much like putting a band-aid on a shotgun wound.
