The backlash to Star Wars: Battlefront II's hero unlocking has been swift and fierce since the game went into EA Access this past weekend, prompting the publisher to make drastic cuts to the costs of new heroes by 75% in an update being sent out today.

Newly posted on EA's Battlefront II blog, the update confirms the new prices for the major heroes were partly decided upon after seeing feedback from the EA Access trial.

"Since the start of the project, listening to fans has been important in making sure Star Wars Battlefront II is the very best experience for all of you," EA said. "We’ve stayed true to that with the closed alpha, through the beta last month, and now our Play First Trial. That continues as we move towards worldwide launch this week, and we’re making adjustments to the game based on player feedback. That includes a substantial change we’re making today as we’ve been monitoring things during the Play First Trial. We used data from the beta to help set those levels, but it’s clear that more changes are needed.

"We’re reducing the amount of credits needed to unlock the top heroes by 75%," the post points out. "Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will now be available for 15,000 credits, Emperor Palpatine, Chewbacca and Leia Organa for 10,000 credits and Iden at 5,000 credits. Based on what we’ve seen in the Trial, this amount will make earning these heroes an achievement, but one that will be accessible for all players. The change will be live today, with an update that is getting loaded into the Play First Trial and also the full game when it launches."

Fans were outraged to find out heroes like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker cost 60,000 credits during the trial, which some people measured out to taking around forty hours for one hero, or simply paying for credits to unlock them faster.

Star Wars: Battlefront II is still scheduled for November 17 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

[Source: EA Blog]

Our Take

EA and DICE keep having to play defense with the economy on this game, which is hurting their message of Battlefront II being everything the original game should have been after listening to player feedback. With the DLC being free, they clearly are scrambling to look for ways to profit off the game long-term, but the tide of public opinion is turning against the usual methods.