Oskar Gabrielson, the general manager at Electronic Arts, has apologized to fans over the fiasco concerning the marketing model of "Star Wars Battlefront II."
"Sorry we didn't get this right," Gabrielson said in an update posted on EA's official website. The apology targeted the fans who expressed anger and disappointment toward the company. "Star Wars Battlefront II" was in the testing phase for some time with all the features available, but fans were dismayed after EA locked some features after its official release.
What's more, fans thought that the requirements to unlock the features were unreasonable enough that most of them took to social media to boycott both EA and the game itself.
Features can be unlocked by using the in-game currency which can be earned by playing the game. A fan calculated that if a player spends two hours every day playing the game, without fail, it will still take six years before that person has enough in-game currency to unlock all the features. Meanwhile, those who have the cash to spare can merely pay just over $2,000 for the same achievement.
Some suggested that what EA is doing with the game is turning it into something that is known in gaming circles as "pay-to-win." This is a model that gives significant advantage to people who are willing to pay more money, regardless of their skill and familiarity with the game.
In the apology, Gabrielson stated that they are "turning off all in-game purchases," in response to the ensuing outrage. He also promised that EA would take more time "listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning."
However, it didn't seem like the in-game purchases will be gone from the game forever. Gabrielson said that these microtransactions will make a comeback in "Star Wars Battlefront II" sometime in the future, but only after they have made necessary changes to the game.
