EA’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 has underperformed, shipping 7 million units worldwide against an expectation of 8 million (and down from the 13 million that the original Battlefront sold in the same period back in 2015); the lower than expected sales for the game came in the wake of the severe backlash the game’s controversial implementation of microtransactions and lootboxes faced.
The result of this? EA has posted a $186 million loss for the fiscal quarter. Incredibly enough, however, EA doesn’t think that this is cause for alarm- at least, that’s not what they’re saying to their investors (which, I suppose, is understandable). That said, EA hasn’t received the message, and will be doubling down on live services style games with digital monetization this year.
“Going forward, we believe that live services that include optional digital monetization, when done right, provide a very important element of choice that can extend and enhance the experience in our games. In FY19, we will push the boundaries even further for our players, with new experiences and innovation,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said.
My only hope is that if EA decides to continue down this path- which, good for them, even though their output of games is the shallowest and least appealing it has been in years, thanks to their closure of so many high profile studios, and cancellation of so many beloved franchises- then they at least do it properly and right. There is room for games as a service in the industry- but it needs to be done right, or not at all.
