So for those not in the know, the beta for Star Wars: Battlefront 2 launched not too long ago, and a big part of the game’s mechanics revolves around crafting and building loadouts. These loadouts are not earned through the single-player campaign, or drip-fed through experience gain, or unlocked from the start; no, instead, they are unlocked via loot boxes.
Loot boxes you can buy.
And these loadouts are not small effects. You need multiple levels of each “star card” for each class, and the higher the level, the stronger the effects. For example, a level 1 star card in Boba Fett’s rocket pack gives him 50% damage reduction while firing rockets from his jetpack; level 4 gives you 100% damage reduction. These are really substantial differences in power level. And of course, there are a ton of different loadouts, tons of different characters to toy with, and all the while the game makes it quite clear to you, on the opening menu no less, that you can buy more loot boxes. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, cosmetic items are mixed in as well, to ensure that occasionally instead of that power upgrade you need to keep up with the people with bottomless wallets, you get a pretty little end-game animation instead.
This is not particularly dissimilar to the business model found in the pretty damn good first person shooter Loadout. Except Loadout was a free-to-play title that cost you nothing up front. And not as random. Remember, the primary purpose of a loot box system is to entice you to spend money on it. Furthermore, either the game is balanced around buying loot boxes, in which case not buying loot boxes leaves you with a frustrating slog (as many are reporting on the final chapter of Shadow of War), or the game isn’t balanced around buying loot boxes, in which case buying loot boxes is either a complete waste of time and money (which the producer wouldn’t want) or grants you a massive advantage. That’s sort of the problem with microtransactions - they pit the game against your patience. That’s how the business model works. It has no business being in full-priced games.
I’m gonna be honest here, I’m hoping this game bombs. That the consumer reaction to this is outraged boycott. They are selling power in a primarily multiplayer game via free-to-pay-esque loot boxes - at some point, the straw that breaks the camel’s back has to come, right? I mean, it’s probably not going to happen - this is a star wars game, after all - but man would it be nice if we could collectively tell the games industry that this shit ain’t kosher. We already failed with season passes, to the point where every capcom fighter now works on a “season” concept, meaning you have to drop another $30 every few months to keep competitive. Let’s not let pay-to-win gambling in full-priced AAA multiplayer games become a thing.