It seems the dark side of the force isn't the only enemy the players of "Star Wars Battlefront II" see, as they have resorted to death threats and attacks against the game's developers and publishers due to a recent controversial game mechanic.
Electronic Arts (EA), the publisher of the newly released "Star Wars" first-person shooter (FPS) has not even recovered from its loot-box controversy, yet another blunder has netted them more flak from their player base.
This time, it was due to the "top heroes" of the game being locked behind an in-game pay wall. The two most notable ones being withheld are Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, both costing 60,000 in-game credits to unlock. These said credits can either be obtained while playing the game or bought with real-world money.
This and the inclusion of paid in-game loot-boxes has caused much stress not only for the players but also for the developers. One EA employee has even received about seven death threats and as much as 1,600 personal attacks due to the game's unpopular feature. The said developer, named Sean, has stated that he kept track of the incriminating gestures for legal action.
The controversy picked up after an explosive Reddit thread where a user was complaining about Darth Vader being locked. He was expressing his disdain for EA since he apparently paid $80 for the game, presumably a pre-order copy. Since then, other angry members of the player base have flocked to the forum to state similar sentiments toward the developers, criticizing their abusive implementation of microtransactions in the game.
EA tried to quell the unrest by having a representative comment on the thread with a justification as to why the mechanic was included. However, the comment has since become one of the most downvoted comments in the history of Reddit, with 634,000 downvotes and counting in just one day.
In light of the displeasure of the player base, EA has since lowered the cost of both Skywalker and Vader to just about 15,000 credits, subsequently lowering the credit cost for lesser heroes like Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, Leia Organa, and Iden.
This change has been enacted already, though there might still be some resentment from the players. Whether or not the sales will be affected remains to be seen.
