Star Wars Battlefront 2 in-game purchases disabled. DICE admits they got it wrong

With Star Wars Battlefront 2 about to launch for everyone, EA and DICE have posted an announcement to address this week’s backlash over the progression system.

DICE’s GM Oskar Gabrielson released a statement apologising saying that “we didn’t get this right”. DICE has now turned off the ability to purchase Crystals and all progression will now be earned through gameplay. Crystals will reappear but only after they have reevaluated the progression system and made changes.

The full statement reads:

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.

The power of pressure appears to have paid off and EA will have been concerned about the sales of Star Wars Battlefront 2 after the backlash. What this week has taught publishers and developers is they can only go so far when it comes to loot boxes and pay to win. Push it and all hell is going to break loose and sales will be lost.

How long it will take for EA and DICE to fix the progression system remains to be seen, but if they get it wrong, gamers who buy in now on the promise of no more pay to win will feel duped. Let’s hope they have learned their lesson and get it right.