GAMES GIANT EA has changed the rules around unlocking Star Wars characters after a massive online backlash.
Star Wars Battlefront II launches this week, but players have been angered during trials that heroes from the franchise such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker would require extra money or massive time investments to unlock.
Players earn credits in the game, either by spending money or playing games, which they can redeem for extra content. However, it was pointed out to EA on Reddit that consumers would spend €70 on the game and not have key characters.
An EA rep responded by saying the company wanted “to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes”.
This comment received over 679,000 downvotes, making it the least popular comment in Reddit history. The previous record was 24,000.
A message from John Wasilczyk, Executive Producer at Dice, who made the game, says that the company will make a change to unlocking heroes.
“There’s been a lot of discussion around the amount of in-game credits (and time) it takes to unlock some of our heroes, especially Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
Unlocking a hero is a great accomplishment in the game, something we want players to have fun earning. We used data from the beta to help set those levels, but it’s clear that more changes were needed.
“So, we’re reducing the amount of credits needed to unlock the top heroes by 75%. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will now be available for 15,000 credits; Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa for 10,000 credits; and Iden at 5,000 credits.
“Based on what we’ve seen in the trial, this amount will make earning these heroes an achievement, but one that will be accessible for all players.”
The system, known as microtransactions, is common across modern video gaming. Under the system users are directed to spend extra money on games they have already bought. This enables them to unlock better content for online gaming. It will be added to the newest Call of Duty game next week.
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