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Crikey. EA has made the decision to temporarily disable the ability to purchase crystals for real money in their shooter Star Wars Battlefront II after the huge backlash against the system over the last few days.
In a statement posted on the game’s website and Twitter less than 90 minutes after the game went on sale in the UK, DICE General Manager Oskar Gabrielson said ‘As we approach the worldwide launch, it’s clear that many of you feel there are still challenges in the design. We’ve heard the concerns about potentially giving players unfair advantages. And we’ve heard that this is overshadowing an otherwise great game. This was never our intention. Sorry we didn’t get this right.’
‘We hear you loud and clear, so we’re turning off all in-game purchases. We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning. This means that the option to purchase crystals in the game is now offline, and all progression will be earned through gameplay.’
Today, we turned off in-game purchases for #StarWarsBattlefrontII. The game is built on your input, and it will continue to evolve and grow. Read the full update: https://t.co/asGASaYXVp pic.twitter.com/vQSOmsWRgk
— EAStarWars (@EAStarWars) November 17, 2017
It’s not quite the end of this saga, with EA noting that they intend to switch microtransactions back on at a later date, ‘only after we’ve made changes to the game.’  There’s no word yet as to precisely what these changes will be, although obviously more details will be shared as they work and decide upon them.
Intriguingly, Venturebeat reports that the decision may have come from as far up as high as The Walt Disney Company’s (whom own the Star Wars franchise) Chairman Bob Iger himself after a phone call with EA boss Andrew Wilson, according to their sources.
Star Wars Battlefront II is officially out from today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Alice’s review in progress is right over here if you want to know her thoughts so far.
