EA Might Abandon Greed and Loot Boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II - The UpStream

EA Might Abandon Greed and Loot Boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II

posted Saturday Dec 9, 2017 by Scott Ertz

EA Might Abandon Greed and Loot Boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II

Just a few weeks ago, EA launched Star Wars: Battlefront II to much criticism over loot boxes and microtransactions. The internet revolted against the game, threatening to success of the title. This wouldn't be the first time a game had failed, but it would have been a very public failure for EA and Disney on a Star Wars game. To head this off, EA announced that loot boxes and microtransactions would be unavailable in the game.

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.

While removing crates from the game boosted sales for any, the last part, about returning the concept to the game, retained concern within the gaming community. In messages to and petitions for EA, the company has given no indication that they had any intention other than to return the controversial aspect of the game in the future.

In addition to the internet backlash, there is also potential legal issues with loot boxes in games. Several states, as well as Congress itself, have begun to look into the concept as a form o digital gambling. If it is determined that loot boxes, like the ones intended for Star Wars: Battlefront II, are considered to be gambling, it would likely end the concept as a whole.

Following these changes in public perspective, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen spoke on an investor call, saying,

Over time we'll address how we will want to bring the (microtransactions) either into the game or not and what form we will decide to bring it into.

Clearly we are very focused on listening to the consumer and understanding what the consumer wants and that's evolving constantly. But we're working on improving the progression system. We turned the (microtransactions) off as an opportunity to work on the progression system inside the game. We're continuing to update that.

It would appear that EA is quickly responding to the potential of unhappy players, as well as pending legal complications from the business model. At this point, it would be a surprise to see this controversial business model return to the game, for the sake of the reputation with gamers and lawmakers.

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