EA (Electronic Arts) released Star Wars - Battlefront 2. The first Battlefront wasn't very popular with the gaming community. EA and Dice actively spent three years convincing us the next Battlefront will be better. While they technically delivered on that, the game is still lackluster, especially considering they had three years to make it, and they also had a foundation of the original game to work off of. But that's not what got Reddit all riled up.
What happened is that EA introduced heavy pay-to-win via random chance loot boxes that locks away player progression gear and premium currency. Then heroes (primarily Luke and Vader) are locked behind a grind-wall that requires 40 hours of match time to unlock one here. Keep in mind that these heroes are free in the first Battlefield. The player can either spend 40 hours grinding to unlock content they paid for, or they can circumvent the grind wall by paying for random chance loot boxes.
Dice and EA hosted an open Beta that allowed players to test the game before its launch. During the beta, Luke and Darth Vader costed 15,000 credits to unlock, Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa costed 10,000 credits to unlock, and Iden costed 5,000 credits. During the Beta, prices of the heroes was already controversial, and players were already calling out the micro-transaction system, the loot boxes, and the grind wall that encourages pay to win. What the players at the time didn't know is that EA and Dice intended to jack up the credit costs of these heroes. When the game officially launched, players were shocked to find out that the heroes cost 75% more credits. This meant that it takes 40 hours of match time to unlock Luke or Vader, so 80 hours for both. Then over 100 hours of playtime to unlock all the heroes.
The community was outraged by this -
u/MBMMaverick created the thread that started the fire. - Link
EA responded directly to u/MBMMaverick and the r/StarWarsBattlefront community via the customer support Reddit account u/EACommunityTeam by stating
“The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes. As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we're looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we'll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay. We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets. Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can."
This response from EA sparked an absolute shit storm, in which several posts started making it to the front page that were anti-EA, and then EA added another infamous title to its collection - the most downvoted comment in Reddit history.
EA also has earned the worst company in America title two years in a row - Link
Gamespot got in on the action, and decided to purchase $100 dollars worth of loot boxes to see exactly what they could get. They didn't even get halfway to earning enough currency to unlock Darth Vadar - Link
The media buzz has leaked outside of Reddit and gaming publications, with online news outlets, such as Forbes, CNBC, RollingStone and many other online publishers starting to pickup and report on the story.
Here is EA's current stock standing
With the media shit storm swirling around the internet, many players to begin canceling their orders, and even a post by u/Craimasjien hit the top page briefly that included a direct link to the EA website to cancel a Battlefront 2 order - Link
u/TheMadPuma made a post calling for a boycott of EA, which was one of many posts like it, but this post caught fire. Within that post, u/roxwar made a strong point that boycotting EA wasn't going to be enough, we would have to go after Disney as well.
After the pitchforking, the news reporting, order canceling, the memes, and the the downvote parade - EA formally responded to the media shit storm it caused.
“Change will be a Constant in Star Wars Battlefront II A Message from John Wasilczyk, Executive Producer at DICE Since the start of the project, listening to fans has been important in making sure Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II is the very best experience for all of you. We’ve done this with the closed alpha, through the beta last month, and our Play First Trial. And we continue to make adjustments based on your feedback as the game launches worldwide this week. Listening, and providing choices in how you play, will always be our principle with Star Wars Battlefront II. We want to ensure the game is balanced and fun both today and for years into the future. Making games great comes from regular tuning. As one example, today we’re making a substantial change based on what we’ve seen during the Play First trial. There’s been a lot of discussion around the amount of in-game credits (and time) it takes to unlock some of our heroes, especially Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Unlocking a hero is a great accomplishment in the game, something we want players to have fun earning. We used data from the beta to help set those levels, but it’s clear that more changes were needed. So, we’re reducing the amount of credits needed to unlock the top heroes by 75%. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will now be available for 15,000 credits; Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa for 10,000 credits; and Iden at 5,000 credits. Based on what we’ve seen in the trial, this amount will make earning these heroes an achievement, but one that will be accessible for all players. It's a big change, and it’s one we can make quickly. It will be live today, with an update that is getting loaded into the game. We’ve also been listening to how much you’re loving features in the game (Starfighter Assault, 40 player MP battles, Darth Maul lightsaber throws, etc.) as well as what you haven’t liked. We know some of our most passionate fans, including those in our subreddit, have voiced their opinions, and we hear you. We’re making the changes to the credit levels for unlocking heroes and we’re going to keep making changes to improve the game experience over time. We welcome the conversation. In fact, this Wednesday we’d like you to join us for a Reddit AMA with some of the key leads on our team. Stay tuned to our social channels for more info on the AMA, and our blog for continual updates on what we’re seeing, hearing and adjusting in the game. For those of you already playing, thank you. For those of you looking forward to playing the Star Wars™ game you’ve been waiting for, thank you, too. The team is fully committed to listening to our community, continually adjusting the game, and providing even more great Star Wars content over the upcoming months and years of live service updates. More to come"
So there you have it. That's everything I've been able to gather that I think was important about this, and should be able to summarize what all has happened for those who are out of the loop.
If anything is missing or if you think something should be added, leave it in the comments and I'll add it.
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