14 DAY TRIAL // The conflict between the gaming community and Electronic Arts seems to have defined a clear winner, at least for now, and it’s not the company.
Electronic Arts become the target of the gaming community ire after it was revealed that in Star Wars Battlefront II players would need to play almost 40 hours just to unlock a single character that should have been available from the get-go.
The comment made by the company on Reddit didn’t help the situation, and now the infamous “feeling of accomplishment” quote will live for eternity in the public mind. The company underestimated the impact of their decision and the power of gaming community, and they are now paying the price, literally.
The stocks and company’s trust are taking a beating
It was revealed that the company stocks went down 7% at one point. Not to mention that the company was also quick to dismiss the impact of the recent dispute over the sales of Star Wars Battlefront II, in a call with shareholders, after all of the in-game purchases have been disabled.
“Electronic Arts announced that it will turn off all in-game purchases for the Star Wars Battlefront II title until further notice. This change is not expected to have a material impact on EA’s fiscal year 2018 financial guidance.”
It turns out, that Electronic Arts either knew that they were going to take a hit, or they simply underestimated the effects of their feud with their own clients. In any case, at least for the UK market, the sales are down 60% if we compare it with the first game in the new series.
Disney is not happy
We have to remember that Electronic Arts has the right to make Star Wars games from Disney, and Disney is not all that happy that people are trashing a product with that has Star Wars in the name.
In fact, it’s been reported that Disney might be the reason why Electronic Arts decided to pull the plug on in-game transactions right before the launch. The measure is only temporary, and it remains to be seen if EA learned anything from the experience.
Need for Speed transactions are getting nerfed as well
The latest Need for Speed Payback is also riddled with loot crates and other features that are tied into in the progression. Now, the crates will offer significantly more Rep and Bank, allowing gamers to progress faster through the game.
Whether this is just a coincidence or it’s just Electronic Arts trying to stay ahead of the curve, we’ll never know. The truth is that things are definitely changing, but it’s not yet clear if it’s for the long run or just until things quiet down.