EA has switched off Star Wars Battlefront 2's microtransactions
For now.
EA has switched off Star Wars Battlefront 2's microtransactions following the intense fan furore over their implementation into the game.
The ability to buy loot boxes with real-world money disappeared from the Origin, PlayStation and Microsoft stores in the early hours of this morning. Shortly thereafter, EA released this statement from DICE boss Oskar Gabrielson:
There's no word yet on when loot crates will return.
According to Venturebeat sources, Disney boss Bob Iger phoned EA boss Andrew Wilson shortly before the U-turn was announced to discuss Star Wars Battlefront 2. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that conversation.
This week has seen Battlefront 2 - and the entire Star Wars brand - dragged into primetime by news stories on its controversial loot crates featured on the front pages of BBC and CNN. While it's nice to think Disney care about the manner in which Battlefront 2's progression gameplay was affected by crates, it feels more likely this firestorm of bad PR forced the change.
We've been tracking the discussion - and EA's attempts to tweak Battlefront's progression - as it has built over the past couple of months. Battlefront 2's progression system - indelibly tied to the opening of loot crates - was widely identified as a problem back during the game's press preview and public beta phase. EA said we'd not seen the final version of it and promptly released some tweaks concerning the rarity of cards available in crates, among other things.
But the problem of having a loot crate system determining your progression and performance in matches remained. EA was forced to try and further dampen the flames. But it didn't work - early access to Battlefront 2's final version showed, unsurprisingly, this integral part of the game had not been dramatically altered. As general release neared, fan forums and reddit made their voices heard - specifically around the costs of unlocking heroes. EA slashed the cost of characters such as Darth Vader in response - but the feeling the game was panhandling players had stuck, and Battlefront had caught the attention of mainstream press. This week brought a reddit AMA which did nothing to quell the community's fears and then word various Gambling Commissions around Europe had decided to take an interest.
Phew.
Battlefront 2 officially launches today.