When Electronic Arts Inc. releases the sequel to “Star Wars Battlefront” this fall, it plans to ditch one lucrative sales pipeline for another that is potentially even bigger, refined in mobile videogames.

Instead of selling regular “expansion packs”—the quests, maps and other content sold separately after launch—Electronic Arts will send customers free smaller packs more frequently, a way to keep them playing “Star Wars Battlefront II” indefinitely.

To replace lost expansion-pack revenue, Electronic Arts plans to use microtransactions to sell low-cost virtual goods. Microtransactions including those sold within free-to-play mobile games have reaped billions of dollars for the videogame industry.

Spending on microtransactions across all game platforms reached $71 billion world-wide last year, up from $62.4 billion in 2015, according to SuperData Research. Relatively new for console games, microtransactions brought in $2.2 billion last year, compared with $1.4 billion for expansion packs, the industry tracker said.

“Microtransactions are now the most profitable part of many publishers’ businesses,” Jefferies analyst Tim O’Shea said.