Locked characters outrage fans of Star Wars Battlefront 2, causing EA to go into damage control

AN OFFICIAL response to fans criticising a money-grubbing feature has become the most downvoted Reddit comment ever.

A VIDEO game developer has gone into damage control just days ahead of the release of one of its biggest titles of the year following a backlash from irate fans.

Gamers were threatening to boycott Star Wars Battlefront 2 because of EA’s decision to make major characters from the franchise unavailable to play from the start of the game.

Over the weekend, fans learnt that “Hero” characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia would require multiple days of play before they could be unlocked.

“If you were to play Battlefront 2 and wanted to play/unlock Darth Vader or Luke, you’d need to spend about 40 hours in-game to get an in-game currency to buy access to him. During which time you couldn’t unlock anything else since you’re saving up that currency for a character,” a user explained on Reddit.

Alternatively, players would have the option to spend actual money to purchase virtual “loot crates” which contain the currency needed to unlock these Hero characters earlier — an additional cost to the $A99.95 price of the game.

Many gamers were angry and saw this as a way to encourage microtransaction purchases.

“I went from 100 per cent intending to buy to 0 per cent ... $US80 ($A99.95) and then microtransactions is a slap in the face and I just can’t support the practice,” one user wrote.

The heavy backlash attracted a response from EACommunityTeam — an account associated with the game publisher.

Star Wars fans were not happy with the format for unlocking hero characters

“The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes,” the EA rep wrote on Reddit.

“As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we’re looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we’ll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.

“We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.”

The response didn’t sit well with gamers and quickly became the most downvoted comment in Reddit’s history sitting at -521,000 points, which was far more than the second closest at -24,333.

With such negative backlash and threats of cancelled pre-orders, EA was forced to change the system.

“We’re reducing the amount of credits needed to unlock the top heroes by 75 per cent,” EA wrote on a blog.

“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.

“It’s a big change, and it’s one we can make quickly. It will be live today, with an update that is getting loaded into the game.”

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