EA's bringing loot boxes back into Star Wars Battlefront II — it will rightly **** off gamers even more and further hurt the game. But there's money to be made.
Microtransactions have always been a controversial part of modern gaming, but the aggressive type found within Star Wars Battlefront II was the straw that finally broke the camel's back. A large amount of potential buyers refused to get the game outright after seeing the microtransaction systems, and almost everyone unanimously pressured EA (Electronic Arts) to remove them entirely.
EA removed the ability to buy loot boxes with money right before the launch of Battlefront II, but damage was already done to the title's reputation. As a result, the game missed expected sales estimates by a large margin. Governments took notice of the controversy, and began to take a look at whether microtransactions should be considered gambling and regulated as such. All of this hurt EA and Battlefront II, and it only made matters worse when EA said the removal of the loot box buying was only temporary.
There was hope when EA said that the microtransactions may not return, and it seemed like they might have learned their lesson. Alas, though, EA recently announced that these systems would be integrated into Battlefront II once more, and it's starting to feel like the people behind this game don't care about the players at all.
Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...
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