Before The Star Wars: Battlefront II video game hit the market in mid-November many fans were already outraged. WHich was a weird phenomenon. After all, the days leading to the launch of a new video game should be exciting, especially when you consider the massive following that Star Wars related video games have. However, things were different this time, and all this all came down to one thing – the loot boxes.
During the public beta for the Star Wars: Battlefront II last month, a lot of concern was expressed about loot boxes. Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher, acknowledged that important issues had been raised and they were being addressed. But still, fans were not happy.
So, what’s the deal with the loot boxes anyway? Let us give you a simple explanation. The online multiplayer mode in Star Wars: Battlefront II has many interesting things that can be unlocked as you play the game. We are talking about things like weapons, special abilities, cosmetics, emotes, and victory poses.
These things can be earned randomly through the loot boxes. Loot boxes are purchased using one of the two in-game currencies available. However, if you want to upgrade the boxes, you can do so by using a third form of currency: real money.
Most heroes and ships are unlocked from the start of the game. But roughly a quarter of them aren’t. You can purchase this quarter only through in-game currency. This is where things start to get tricky. For you to pay for loot boxes, you will need credits and crystals. Credits are earned by completing online matches and undertaking additional in-game challenges. Crystals, on the other hand, can only be purchased using actual, real life cash.
All unlockable things in the game are categorized into four levels. We have the Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic levels. The first three levels are designed to drop in loot boxes. However, if you want Epic items, they’ll need to be crafted. This means that you will need crafting parts to unlock and upgrade stuff to the Epic level.
But why are fans angry with this?
To unlock a hero or villain such as Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker you will need about 60,000 credits. This is about 40 hours of gameplay. But if you don’t want to wait, you can use in-game purchases to acquire the credits that you need. This is an issue that has caused a massive debate among gamers. 40 hours of gameplay to unlock just one hero or villain is simply not fair.
The publishers have already announced that the credits needed to unlock heroes and villains will be reduced by 75%.
But there is a bigger problem with the loot boxes. The returns you get from investing your time playing the game are nowhere near the returns that you get by investing money (purchasing loot boxes) through in-game purchases. This needs to be balanced to provide enough room for natural progression in the game. Star Wars: Battlefront II must show gamers that there is just the same value in investing time playing and earning credits compared to acquiring loot boxes through in-game purchases.
But sadly loot boxes will not go away. There are many video games that are exploring this model. It’s simply a strategy used by developers to maximize their revenue from video games. For example, if you are going to buy your Battlefront II copy for $60, you may end up spending a lot more on loot boxes to unlock different things in the game. Whether this takes away the feeling of accomplishment that comes with earning credits and progressing naturally is a different debate. But it’s a real concern among video gamers and if it’s not addressed, it could easily kill the experience of playing video games.