EA has received a lot of heat from its gaming community in regards to loot box system it introduced in Star Wars Battlefront II. The company has announced that it is removing the ability to purchase “crystals” in the game. Prior to this change, the game was designed so that players could spend real money to purchase crystals and that would then be used to buy randomized bundles of in-game items. Basically you would be spending real money for virtual currency that would then be used for in-game items.
This caused a huge uproar with the game fans. After widespread complaints on Reddit and other place, it was suggested that the game was imbalanced where it could take dozens of hours to unlock iconic characters like Luke Skywalker to be unlocked without paying. The other concern regarding this business model was that due to the introduction of loot crates, it would encourage a “pay-to-win” model that doesn’t promote in-game activities.
In a statement, DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson said that “As we approach the worldwide launch, it’s clear that many of feel there are still challenges in the design.” He continues by saying that “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.”
Earlier this week, EA addressed everyone’s concerns by reducing the number of credits you earn to unlock characters, but that wasn’t enough for many. Now that the ability to purchase crystals removed, all progression in Battlefront II will have to be earned by playing the game. EA does make a note that it plans to bring the crystals at a later date after it fine tunes and balances the system.
Star Wars Battlefront II will be released in a few hours worldwide.
