EA has made it abundantly clear that the microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II will not be revamped to feature character-based cosmetic upgrades.
Electronic Arts (EA) has made it abundantly clear that the controversial microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II will not be revamped to feature character-based cosmetic upgrades.
Speaking at the annual Credit Suisse Technology, Media and Telecom Conference (via GamesIndustry) earlier today, chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen stated that it is important for the company to remain faithful to the iconic franchise. Allowing players to change the getup and appearance of their favorite characters in the game would destroy the canon of Star Wars.
“Darth Vader in white probably doesn’t make sense, versus in black,” Jorgensen said. “Not to mention you probably don’t want Darth Vader in pink. No offense to pink, but I don’t think that’s right in the canon.”
EA is still working to bring back microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II, but in ways that do not incur the wrath of the community. The best solution would be to completely remove Star Cards so that players cannot pay in real-world currency for game-altering upgrades. That would mean overhauling an entire progression system, which the publisher might not want to do at this point.
Ironically, Jorgensen expressed distate for such microtransactions and payment models in video games. He, though, did not completely trash the concept.
“Some people have more time than money, and some people have more money than time,” Jorgensen said. “You want to always balance those two.”
It should be noted that it was only a couple of weeks back when Jorgensen wished for deeper microtransactions in Battlefield 4. Considering that it is one of the most played games for the company, more payment options would have generated more revenue and that is something that Jorgensen regrets.
He further added that the company is intently listening to feedback from the community in terms of “how best to roll out” microtransactions in the future. There is nothing more to add at this point, but we might hear more when the new year begins.
