EA and DICE have dome under a lot of fire for Star Wars: Battlefront II with controversial criticisms over its ‘pay-to-win’ progression system. Levelling up in Battlefront II wasn’t traditional like most games, but required players to make in-game or actual purchases for Star Cards, items that would allow players to level up their classes through random chance, going so far as to worry national legislators worldwide whether or not this constituted as unlicensed gambling.
Due to the negative reaction of of the game’s progression system, EA and DICE promised to overhaul it and suspended pay for any micro-transactions in the game. Even still, fans criticized the progression system as faulty, but now the companies have announced an update will come to Battlefront II that will bring some sweeping changes to how players can progress.
Beginning on March 21, the progression and levelling up will be made a linear experience. Classes, heroes, and ships used in multiplayer now individually earn experience points. Experience points will help players level up and each level awards a Skill Point which can be spent on the gameplay-changing Star Cards. The Star Cards will not be available for purchase with either in-game Credits or Cyrstals and will no longer be found in Crates, making it exclusive to the progression system.
Crates, meanwhile, will now only contain Credits or cosmetic items such as emotes or victory poses. Crates can also not be purchased with any currency, and will only be awarded as a daily login bonus, for completing timed challenges or completing career Milestones. Crystals will also return to the game and be purchased with both in-game Credits and through first-party stores, but their only purpose will be for cosmetic-only skins for classes and heroes, though the new skins won’t appear until an update in April.
Everything players have already earned through Crates and Star Cards will still be theirs when the new update rolls out. Nothing will be replaced that players already have. You can read EA’s official statement on the update here.
What do you think of this news? Are you happy with the changes in the progression update or hoped for something more? Let us know below…
