Unless you’ve literally been living in a galaxy far, far away, you’ve no doubt caught wind of the heated debate surrounding Star Wars Battlefront II’s “pay-to-win” microtransactions. Following negative response to the Battlefront II beta, EA and developer DICE made some tweaks to the game’s loot boxes and progression system, but the controversy didn’t end there. Further outcry over the unlock requirements for fan-favorite heroes like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader forced more changes. Eventually, EA made the surprising move to temporarily remove microtransactions from Star Wars Battlefront II altogether.
Amidst all this strife, the Star Wars overlords at Lucasfilm have remained mum, letting EA and DICE absorb the fan rage. Well, Lucasfilm have finally broken their silence on the Star Wars Battlefront II pay-to-win debacle, and it seems they’re as happy to see microtransactions go as everybody else…
“Star Wars has always been about the fans — and whether it’s Battlefront II or any other Star Wars experience, they come first. That’s why we support EA’s decision to temporarily remove in-game payments to address fan concerns.”
Lucasfilm frames the removal of Battlefront II’s in-game purchases as an EA decision, but that may be a half truth. As we previously relayed, The Wall Street Journal has reported Disney was “alarmed” by the backlash to the Battlefront II progression system and consumer products and interactive media head Jimmy Pitaro expressed serious concerns to EA shortly before the microtransactions were pulled.
Of course, Disney is no stranger to microtransactions, as they sell a wide variety of kid-targeted mobile apps with in-game purchases, but, apparently, the Battlefront II controversy got a little too hot for them. Could this debacle negatively effect the relationship between Disney/Lucasfilm and EA? Early Battlefront II sales being down 60 percent compared to the previous game could certainly spur some changes.
Star Wars Battlefront II is currently available for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. You can keep up with all our coverage of the game, right here.
About the author: Professional writer of trivial things. Nathan has been covering games, entertainment, and online culture for over a decade with bylines at IGN, GameSpy, Cracked, Uproxx, ComicBook, and more. Joined Wccftech gaming team in 2017, and has written hundreds of game reviews and thousands of news stories since.
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