EA backtracks on ‘Star Wars Battlefront II’ hero cost after massive gamer flak in Reddit
Image: Twitter/@EAStarWars
“Star Wars Battlefront II” producer Electronic Arts has decided to scale down the requirements for unlocking special characters in the game. The company decided to do so after massive backlash from the game’s player community.
EA took the hint after a post on Reddit — which attempted to explain the rationale behind the high cost of in-game credits to unlock special characters — became the most downvoted post in the site’s history.
A Reddit user under the handle name MBMMaverick, started a thread to rant about Darth Vader being an unlockable character for a game worth $80 (about P4,000).
Reddit user TheHotterPotato earlier posted a breakdown of how long it would take to earn enough in-game currency to unlock a hero. TheHotterPotato estimated that around 40 hours of gameplay and prudent penny-pinching would be needed to unlock one hero, which then cost 60,000 credits.
Image: Reddit/@TheHotterPotato
Players could decide to skip the in-game credit grind and purchase the hero with real money transactions.
EA attempted to pacify MBMMaverick by explaining how they want to “ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.”
The plan did not work out as intended and further enraged other players. EA’s post currently sits at negative 621,000 points in just twenty-four hours, as of this writing.
Image: Reddit/@MBMMaverick
To address concerns, EA released a statement detailing an average of 75 percent in cost reduction for unlocking special characters. For starters, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader can be unlocked for just 15,000 in-game credits. Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca and Leia Organa could be attained for 10,000 credits, while Iden costs just 5,000 credits.
EA stressed that despite the big change, the cost adjustments would be implemented immediately. JB
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