![]() …and More of Your Money LaterĭICE has essentially promised that the current microtransaction system for Battlefront II is coming back in some form. The widespread negative press and a Twitter campaign around the hashtag “ #gambling” specifically targeting Disney may have factored into EA’s decision to freeze in-app purchases temporarily. EA already released the arguably half-finished Battlefront two years ago and shuttered Visceral Studios (developers of the Dead Space games), effectively cancelling another single-player Star Wars project. If the Mousefather gets the impression that EA isn’t the best home for its intellectual property and moves it somewhere else, the publisher’s bottom line could take a massive hit. Star Wars fans were already less than thrilled to learn that the well-regarded LucasArts game studio was shuttered in favor of an exclusive deal with EA, killing off the much-anticipated Star Wars 1313 project. ![]() Remember, the Star Wars license is a license, ultimately owned and controlled by Disney. Wall Street types might not give two rancor turds about the integrity of the gaming medium, but if they see gamers jumping ship en masse, they’ll probably make their displeasure known in monetary terms.Īnd investors aren’t the only ones who need to be wary. The threatened boycott of the game is unlikely, but if it succeeds and (even worse) gets enough mainstream press, EA’s investors will begin to take notice. Microtransactions are now worth billions in annual revenue, sometimes more than the profit from conventional sales. So if you’ll allow me to be cynical-and I think cynicism is warranted here-EA is going to say more or less anything to make sure Battlefront II as a success at launch. That’s why publishers have been so eager to push pre-order bonuses and special editions, even at a time when more and more gamers are downloading digital copies of games. Just like Hollywood movies, game purchases and revenue tend to taper off after a month or so. The first few weeks of a game’s availability are the most crucial in terms of sales. Why should you stay away from Battlefront II? Oh, let me count the reasons. Look, I really hate to rely on Internet memes to make my point, but never was there a more appropriate time for its use: The reprieve from a system tuned and tortured to not-quite-force microtransactions is temporary: the developer didn’t even wait until the end of the paragraph to make sure gamers know that the in-game purchases will be coming back sometime after today’s launch. Yesterday afternoon, Battlefront II developer DICE (a wholly-owned EA subsidiary) posted the following message, claiming that the game will “turn off all in-game purchases.” Rejoice, ye multiplayer masses, for EA hath seen your affliction and given heed to your cry. They’re hardly surprising, though. With 2017 filled with loot box and microtransaction controversy (see Shadow of War, Destiny 2, Call of Duty: WWII, and more or less every licensed pro sports game), the much-anticipated Star Wars game seems to be the straw that broke the gamer’s back. And of course, spending more money on loot boxes means immediate, semi-exclusive advantages over others in multiplayer.Īll of these ideas and structures are borrowed from free-to-play and mobile games, and they’re disheartening and insulting to see from one of the biggest games of the year from the world’s biggest gaming software company. Blocks in the arcade mode meant players could only earn a limited amount of the in-game currency per day. Because a lot of the rewards are hidden in randomized loot boxes, you’d have to pay thousands of dollars or play thousands of hours to unlock all the content. The slow progression wasn’t the only problem. EA relented, chopping the time it would take to earn those heroes by 75%…but also reducing the rewards for completing the single-player campaign by an equal amount. But after early players crunched the numbers and realized it would take about forty hours of play to unlock iconic characters like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, gamers revolted. You could just play the game for free, hoping to earn those rewards eventually. Of course, you don’t have to pay to get that advantage. ![]() You don’t have to pay to play, but you do have to pay to win. Namely, it seems to be almost entirely built around microtransactions (in-app purchases, mini-DLC, “ player recurring investment,” and so on), driving players to spend more real-world cash to get an advantage over their opponents. It’s technically out today in most markets, a short open beta and a pre-play period for EA Access subscribers have exposed extremely troubling parts of the game’s core structure. ![]() RELATED: Microtransactions in AAA Games Are Here to Stay (But They're Still Terrible) ![]()
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