Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was the main event of Electronic Arts E3 presentation, and one of the more emphasized aspects about the game was the fact that the game will sport free DLC. Free maps, free characters, free gameplay modes, all DLC, apparently, will be free for the game.
This was a conscious decision by DICE as well. "I think the main thing here is to keep the community together," design director Niklas Fegraeus said in an interview with Gamespot. "In terms of the brand, to me, when it comes to Star Wars, that's a family feeling. If you're a fan, you're a part of the family. And splitting that up and saying, 'If you have this content you can play here, but if you have this content you can play here.' And if you don't share, you will be split up. What we wanted to do was have a journey that starts at the launch of the game. So when the game launches, this journey starts with different seasons [of DLC]."
This has influenced several big changes to the Battlefront model. For one, there will be no season pass this time around. Secondly, the goal is to push for more content via themed seasons. So for example, the first season, launching in December, will focus on the upcoming Star Wars film The Last Jedi, as shown during the EA conference.
Of course, there is a silver lining to this, and that is the use of microtransactions in the game. Fegraeus stated that the game won't be a pay-to-win model, emphasizing that everything in the game can be earned through playing the game. "If you're someone who spends time on the game, we love you, do your thing, do what you want to do. If you don't have the time, you can spend money and we love you as well. It's your choice." stated Fegraeus.
EA has been utilizing microtransactions for a while now, as their presence in most of their multiplayer games has been far-reaching. For the most part, they have been unobtrusive, and Fegraeus is hoping to continue that trend with Battlefront 2. To what extent this will be the case for the game has yet to be determined.
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