EA Suspends Microtransactions in Battlefront 2 to Adjust Gameplay

Electronic Arts and their latest release, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 have been embroiled in a heated controversy for the weeks leading up to the official release of the game.  Players of the game in EA’s early access and critics who reviewed the game have all echoed similar sentiments that something was not right with the progression system for the game.

Because of it, EA has taken different measures.  The made a move to reduce the cost of pricey items in the game earlier this week.  They did a Reddit AMA to start a discussion with the community about the game’s progression system, but most recently the publisher has just issued a statement that says they will be disabling microtransactions in the game while they try to balance and tune the game.

Oskar Gabrielson of DICE had this to say in a letter to those who already own Battlefront and those still on the fence.

“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.”

Our review of Battlefront 2 reads largely as Oskar put it.  It’s a game that feels great in a lot of areas with significant improvements in key areas like the addition of a single player campaign and a more robust multiplayer suite, but felt overshadowed by the progression system of the game.

We’ll have to see which way DICE goes with Star Wars Battlefront 2 in the weeks ahead and whether how, if any impact this move will have on the new group of players that will arrive when Battlefront 2 launches for all on November 17th.