'Star Wars Battlefront 2' News: Microtransactions Pulled Due To Disney Airing Concerns To EA
It appears it's not just gamers who were disappointed EA's handling of the "Star Wars Battlefront 2" microtransactions fiasco as Disney was reportedly worried by the massive fan backlash. The media company was reportedly behind EA's decision to change the paid economy in order to prevent further damage to its "Star Wars" franchise.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney CEO Bob Iger was "alarmed" by the backlash from fans over how Battlefront II's microtransactions were implemented. This led to Jimmy Pitaro, the head of consumer products and interactive media at Disney, to contact EA about the company's concerns over the matter.
The debacle began when "Star Wars Battlefront 2" receive a lot of criticism from players due to the high cost of the game's hero characters such as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. EA responded by lowering the cost of the characters by 75 percent before ultimately pulling microtransactions entirely from the game.
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It was definitely surprising that, after inadequate defenses and fixes, EA decided to pull microtransactions in the game entirely and did so at the eleventh hour. However, if Disney was in fact the reason behind the move, everything becomes clear. After all, with the "Star Wars" franchise being the goldmine that it is, EA isn't about to refuse any concern, at least those that are legitimate, the media giant might have with the use of their intellectual property.
Disney has put a lot of money into the franchise and considering their massive plans for their investment, they aren't about to let anyone ruin it for them. With "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" also being the debut of Rian Johnson's vision for the franchise, any bad rap the "Star Wars" name receives is a liability for Disney.
What this means for EA is still to be seen. Being the exclusive publisher of "Star Wars" games, it's pretty clear that the company has failed to make the most out of its agreement with Disney. With the recent debacle over the "Star Wars Battlefront 2" microtransactions already gaining attention from Disney, EA's hold on the franchise could be slipping, one mistake at a time.
