Report: Electronic Arts Backed Off Battlefront II Microtransactions After Disney Put Its Foot Down

Report: Electronic Arts Backed Off Battlefront II Microtransactions After Disney Put Its Foot Down

Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Fritz has been following the twists and turns of EA's changes with Star Wars: Battlefront II, mentioning that Disney executives contacted EA to figure out the furor over Battlefront II.



The tweet points to an article Fritz wrote about the subject. In the tweet, he clarifies that Disney’s head of consumer products and interactive media, Jimmy Pitaro, sent a letter to EA outlining Disney and chief executive officer Bob Iger's concerns with the way EA was handling the game and the public perception of it. As mainstream media outlets began conflating the Star Wars license with gambling and outrage, it seems Disney began to take issue with Battlefront II being in the news for these reasons.

EA announced last night that they were pulling microtransactions from Battlefront II due to a wave of negative reactions due to its perceived pay-to-win progression that lead to mainstream attention from outlets like CNN. The publisher has clarified that the removal is only temporary and will return in a different, though still progression-based, form at a later date.

Star Wars: Battlefront II released today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.