‘Star Wars: Battlefront 2’ Hero Unlock Costs Slashed 75 Percent In Face Of Player Protests
The player protests against the cost to unlock heroes and villains in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 had their desired effect Monday. DICE and Electronic Arts announced they are slashing the in-game prices of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and others by 75 percent for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC shooter.
As covered earlier today, a Reddit user calculated it would take approximately 40 hours to earn enough credits to unlock either Vader or Skywalker in Star Wars: Battlefront. This prompted an immediate outcry from fans and an Electronic Arts Community Manager’s response has now earned infamy as the most downvoted Reddit post of all time with nearly 500,000 downvotes at the time of this article.
Hero and Villain Price Slash
DICE has taken the step to assuage the backlash by reducing the credits needed to unlock heroes by 75 percent. This brings Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader down to 15,000 credits from their original price 60,000 credits. Additionally, Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia drop to 10,000 credits while Iden falls to 5,000 credits.
This is actually the second change DICE has made to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 in response to fan complaints. The first was removing the most powerful cards from the Loot Boxes that can be purchased by players and make it so that they can only be earned by crafting them.
That Still Leaves
Unfortunately, there’s been no move towards changing the Star Card progression system or the credits earned at the end of each match. There’s a distinct statistical advantage given to players who purchase Loot Crates with real-world money due to the fact they gain Star Cards instantly versus grinding out hours’ worth of gameplay to purchase the same statistical boost.
A gate system at level 10, 15, and 20 was implemented by DICE to prevent players from equipping the most powerful cards. However, those who have nearly every card available from the onset will immediately have an advantage over those who don’t and will be able to level up faster. It’s an unfortunate situation exacerbated by the decision to go with gameplay changing loot over cosmetic items.
DICE says they will “keep making changes to improve the game” in the post about the changes to the price of heroes but it remains to be seen what kind of changes fans will see. The developers are planning a Reddit AMA session on Wednesday, which is sure to be an eyebrow-raising affair.
[Featured Image by DICE/Electronic Arts]
