The troubles continue for EA andStar WarsBattlefront 2. The game has been the subject of controversy even before its initial release, with much of it having to do with the game’s loot box system, which is used for upgrades while playing. Even though EA tried to course correct by putting a hold on these microtransactions, following the wave of backlash they received, it wasn’t enough to wash the bad taste out of many gamer’s mouths. As a result, the game has failed to meet its sales projections so far.
According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, EA’sStar Wars Battlefront 2has sold 9 million copies thus far. However, that’s 1 million shy of what they were aiming for. That means, despite selling another 1 to 3 million copies before the end of 2018, the sequel won’t come anywhere near to beating its predecessor, in terms of sales. For the sake of comparison, the firstStar Wars Battlefront, which was released in November of 2015, had sold 14 million copies by the end of 2016. IfStar Wars Battlefront 2comes in on the low side of sales projections for 2018, the sequel could be nearly 4 million copies behind, sales wise, when compared to the first game.
Theloot box and microtransaction issuegoes far beyondStar Wars Battlefront 2, but as theStar Warsfanbase is incredibly passionate, the issue was brought to the forefront and even attracted the attention of several lawmakers who are trying to put a stop to what they call apredatory practice. Things got so bad that, at one point, people at EA received death threats from angry fans over the power-up system the company implemented for the newBattlefront. All of this, despite the fact that the company did go out of their way to try and make a great many improvements to this game, when compared to the firstStar Wars Battlefront.
Star Wars Battlefront 2included asingle-player campaign, and one that ties into the officialStar Warscanon. That was something the first game was sorely missing from the first game. EA also added many new levels, playable characters and vehicles to the multiplayer modes, but thoserequire hours and hours of gameplayto unlock, or a more-than-decent chunk of change in microtransactions. That, unfortunately overshadowed many of the improvements and hurt the game’s overall sales.
Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm has been incredibly successful thus far, but if there’s one area that really needs to improve, it’s gaming.Star Wars Battlefront 2simply isn’t cutting it. On the bright side for EA, digital sales of the sequel were up, as 37 percent of sales came digitally, as compared to 28 percent for the first game, which was reported by Wall Street Journal reporterSarah E. Needleman’s Twitteraccount. That’s quite the small victory for EA and it certainly doesn’t help the manyStar Warsfans who want to play quality games set in a galaxy far, far away again.
