The topic of money is always on people’s minds, but for gamers, the topic has led to EA, and their title Battlefront II. For before the games launch last week, the title was under fire for being a “gambling system” of sorts where players would be forced to pay money just to get some significant progress in the game. For the title offered certain things through natural progression, but it would be far easier to just buy the item, and then take a risk on trying to get something good. Naturally, this caused problems.
Mainly, the fanbase revolted, this was taking microtransactions too far. It wasn’t fair anymore. So, upon hearing this outcry, and with some influence from Disney who owns the Star Wars franchise, EA shut down the in-game purchases system. But, as many fans fearfully noted, the promise was also made that the system would come back after “changes”. So, what are they going to be?
That is the question, isn’t it? And it’s a very important one, one that many are no doubt thinking about right now as they play Battlefront II. For sure, this is a victory, but if it’s only brief, will it matter?
Focusing on the modified system itself, there’s no doubt that either the cost or the process of buying certain things is going to be changed. More than likely, the progression system (which was part of the problem) will be tweaked so that players can naturally obtain things much easier WITHOUT the critical need to spend money. Also, likely in a sign of good faith, the prices of certain purchases will likely go down.
But will that be enough? Will EA go the extra mile to right the wrongs that they have committed on fans? That, sadly, is the true unknown here. For money is still their driving factor, that’s why we know the microtransaction system will return. It’s just a matter of time.