Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson described the company\u2019s missteps in monetization for Star Wars: Battlefront II as a \u201clearning opportunity\u201d in a conference call today with analysts. From the perspective of gamers who were angry about EA\u2019s approach to in-game purchases of loot crates, that\u2019s an understatement.<\/b>
\nElectronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson described the company\u2019s missteps in monetization for Star Wars: Battlefront II as a \u201clearning opportunity\u201d in a conference call today with analysts. From the perspective of gamers who were angry about EA\u2019s approach to in-game purchases of loot crates, that\u2019s an understatement.
\u201cHaving made adjustments based on sentiment and community data coming out of the beta and early trials, we ultimately made the decision to pull in-game purchases out of the game prior to launch,\u201d Wilson said, in the closest thing EA has come to a mea culpa yet.
He added, \u201cWe never intended to build an experience that could be seen as unfair or lacking clear progression, so we removed the feature that was taking away from what fans were telling us was an otherwise great game. We are fortunate to have such passionate players that will tell us when we get it right, and when we don\u2019t. We\u2019re now working hard on more updates that will meet the needs of our players, and we hope to bring these to the Battlefront II community in the months ahead.\u201d
EA acknowledged that sales of Battlefront II \u2014 9 million during the holiday quarter that ended December 31 \u2014 were below expectations because of the loot crate controversy. Fans were upset that you could buy powerful characters like Darth Vader using loot crate purchases, rather than earning the characters purely through gameplay in multiplayer combat. EA backed off on the aggressive monetization plan, but it said it would reinstitute the loot crates when the timing was right.
\u201cWe remain committed to the franchise, the team is working diligently on new content and live updates,\u201d Wilson said in an analyst conference call. \u201cResponse has been strong to the content we released so far. We will look after that community and fulfill the commitment we made to them for a long time to come.\u201d
As to whether the loot crate problem hurt EA\u2019s relations with Disney, Wilson said, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t believe everything you read in the press. We are very proactive in relationships in service of our players. We have good relations with Disney. When we have the right model for players, I have no doubt we will get support for Disney for that. The big picture is there is no one size fits all for event-driven live services. But at the very core we should start with a foundation of player choice.\u201d
Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer at EA, said in the call that the next big Star Wars game to drop will likely come from Respawn Entertainment, which EA bought last quarter for $455 million, in fiscal 2020. That means it will ship in the year ending March 31,2020.<\/p>\n

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