Star Wars Battlefront II’s release has been surrounded by the controversy surrounding its use of unfair microtransactions and loot crates. The developers have tried time and again to address the concerns of the gaming community. While in the recent AMA they had stated that they would make the necessary changes, DICE have delivered on their promises. At least for now, they have completely removed the presence microtransactions entirely. Now the only way for the player to earn rewards in the game is through gameplay and grinding.
In a letter posted by DICE GM Oskar Gabrielson on EA’s official website, he explained why they have removed the unfair system:
“Thank you to everyone in our community for being the passionate fans that you are. Our goal has always been to create the best possible game for all of you – devoted Star Wars fans and game players alike. We’ve also had an ongoing commitment to constantly listen, tune and evolve the experience as it grows. You’ve seen this with both the major adjustments, and polish, we have made over the past several weeks.
But as we approach the worldwide launch, it’s clear that many of you feel there are still challenges in the design. We’ve heard the concerns about potentially giving players unfair advantages. And we’ve heard that this is overshadowing an otherwise great game. This was never our intention. Sorry we didn’t get this right.
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.
We have created a game that is built on your input, and it will continue to evolve and grow. Star Wars Battlefront II is three times the size of the previous game, bringing to life a brand new Star Wars story, space battles, epic new multiplayer experiences across all three Star Wars eras, with more free content to come. We want you to enjoy it, so please keep your thoughts coming. And we will keep you updated on our progress.”
It remains to be seen in what form the microtransactions will return. Hopefully, the company has learnt their lesson and includes microtransactions only in a way that do not give players an unfair advantage. It’s possible that the feature will make a return in a way that affects cosmetic changes only. This seems like it would be a satisfactory conclusion to the whole controversy and it’s all thanks to the perseverance of the gaming community who stood united against unfair and predatory systems.
