EA Removes Microtransactions From Star Wars Battlefront II Hours Before Release

Written by Brandon Hofer on November 16, 2017

News: In-game purchases in Star Wars Battlefront II have been turned off according to a letter written to the community.

We are only a few hours away from Star Wars: Battlefront II being released to everyone but a big change has already occurred. Recently there has been some controversy regarding how some of the microtransactions worked. While microtransactions are not inherently evil there was a section of gamers that were concerned about how Battlefront II was handling them. It appears that EA and DICE have listened to the community and, just hours before release, removed microtransactions from the game.

The general manager of DICE, Oskar Gabrielson, wrote this letter to the community:

”Thank you to everyone in our community for being the passionate fans that you are.

Our goal has always been to create the best possible game for all of you – devoted Star Wars fans and game players alike. We’ve also had an ongoing commitment to constantly listen, tune and evolve the experience as it grows. You’ve seen this with both the major adjustments, and polish, we have made over the past several weeks.

But 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.

We have created a game that is built on your input, and it will continue to evolve and grow. Star Wars Battlefront II is three times the size of the previous game, bringing to life a brand new Star Wars story, space battles, epic new multiplayer experiences across all three Star Wars eras, with more free content to come. We want you to enjoy it, so please keep your thoughts coming. And we will keep you updated on our progress.”

So then the question remains...if you were someone who was concerned about how the microtransactions would work in Battlefront II, will you now buy the game because they have been turned off?

source: EA