Maybe Battlefront 2 is a great game at its core. The problem is, none of that matters, when the issue of egregious, exploitative monetization via predatory microtransactions raises its ugly head and associates itself squarely with the game. Which is what has happened with Battlefront 2.
The situation got really messy- so bad that EA’s official comment on Reddit defending their decision to have certain iconic Star Wars characters such as Darth Vader be locked behind absurdly high costs became the single most downvoted comment in Reddit history. Apparently the feedback finally got through to EA loud and clear, because they have announced their intention to reduce costs for top heroes by 75%.
“Making games great comes from regular tuning. As one example, today we’re making a substantial change based on what we’ve seen during the Play First trial,” EA said in the post detailing the change. “There’s been a lot of discussion around the amount of in-game credits (and time) it takes to unlock some of our heroes, especially Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Unlocking a hero is a great accomplishment in the game, something we want players to have fun earning. We used data from the beta to help set those levels, but it’s clear that more changes were needed.
“So, we’re 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.
“It’s a big change, and it’s one we can make quickly. It will be live today, with an update that is getting loaded into the game.”
It’s sad it took this level of feedback for them to respond; it’s sad that some players went so overboard and toxic, actually issuing death threats to developers, in response; it’s sad that these characters are still locked behind hours of tedium, with a real monetary shortcut to get them right away. And it’s definitely sad that conversation around this game will forever be about its microtransactions now.
Unfortunately, that’s the bed EA made when they decided to become overly predatory with their monetization schemes.