The Star Wars IP has seen better days. Star Battlefront 2 was panned universally by players and critics alike for its intrusive microtransaction policies, while EA also confirmed last year that Visceral’s Uncharted-like Star Wars game had also been canned (and don’t even get me started on how bad The Last Jedi was). Still, it looks like EA are looking to the future, and judging by the tidbits of information available right now, it could be an interesting one.

EA recently posted a job ad that is looking to hire people to its Vancouver studio to work on an open world online Star Wars project. It was widely reported by a number of outlets, but it looks like EA have since then changed the job listing to remove any mention of it being open world- now it just says that it’s an AAA Star Wars title. “We are looking for a talented and experienced Lead Online Engineer to join an established, experienced team of developers working on a AAA Star Wars title in development at EA Vancouver,” the job ad reads. “This is an opportunity to join a veteran team to design, architect, and implement the Online infrastructure for the project, while working with industry-leading central technologies.”

Well, it definitely sounds interesting. From what I can gather, it looks like a games-as-a-service model Star Wars game in vein of other titles such as The Division and Destiny. That could be interesting, but with EA also launching Anthem next year, which works on the same GaaS model, it’s unclear why they feel they need yet another similar game. Either way, stay tuned to GamingBolt for continued updates.

With Star Wars: Battlefront 2 out now, people have been reporting on the issues that they’re facing in the game, and DICE have been working on fixes for each of these. Ali Hassoon, producer at DICE, recently took to Twitter to talk about a few such issues, while also responding to some questions by fans.

In one tweet, Hassoon said that DICE is aware of a problem with map rotations, because of which only a few maps ever get picked for matches. He said that the studio is currently working on coming up with a fix for this. Additionally, when one fan tweeted at Hassoon and informed him that they’re constantly getting kicked out of matches, Hassoon informed them that this, too, is an issue that DICE are aware of, and that a fix for this is in the pipeline as well.

Lastly, another fan asked Hassoon if DICE have any plans for making all the maps in the game available in all game modes, including arcade. Hassoon responded by saying that this is something DICE are currently looking into as well. Here’s hoping they listen to fan feedback and make it happen.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is out now for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for continued coverage on the game.

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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.