Following consumer backlash, EA confirmed Star Wars Battlefront II won’t launch with microtransactions. The company said all in-game purchases will be turned off while it spends time “listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning.” Eventually, the company will reintroduce microtransactions—a practice many gamers aren’t happy about.
“This means that the option to purchase crystals in the game is now offline, and all progression will be earned through gameplay,” said Oskar Gabrielson, GM of Battlefront II developer DICE. “The ability o purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we’ve made changes to the game.”
The idea of microtransactions in Battlefront II has been a topic of controversy because it seemed like EA was encouraging players to spend real money in order to win. Recently, players who tested the game in Early Access noticed that in order to unlock some of the franchise’s most iconic characters, it would take an insane amount of playtime. Or, you could simply buy them.
EA tried to mitigate damage early on by cutting the cost of its heroes, but at this point the damage may be irreversible. It would seem there has been so much backlash that the company saw fit to turn off an entire ecosystem designed to encourage players to spend more money. That’s a big win for gamers, even if it’s temporary.
Earlier this week, EA tried defending Battlefront II’s microtransactions by taking to Reddit, leading the publisher to infamously earn the most downvoted comment of all time. Here’s what EA said at the time:
The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes. As for the cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we’re looking at average per-player credit earn rates based on a daily basis, and we’ll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.
Star Wars Battlefront II is now available for Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
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