The new Star Wars Battlefront game is responsible for the least popular Reddit post ever written, amid growing controversy.

The new game, which like the first is a shooter that takes place in the Star Wars universe, looked all set to continue the huge popularity of that original title. But the game has run into problems – and developer EA appears to be struggling to contain them.

The controversy has arisen because the game doesn't allow players to use the many famous Star Wars characters in the game from the beginning. Instead, they must work through a long process to unlock them.

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But that unlocking process can be overcome by simply paying to get the characters. And it is that which players have objected to, arguing that it is the most particularly egregious example of a growing trend to forcing people to spend yet more money in games through "micro-transactions" – even after buying them for £50.

EA's controversial comment, for instance, was posted in response to another Reddit user who said they had paid $80 for the game but were left unable to play with Darth Vader unless they spent yet more money.

In an attempt to address that controversy, developers EA posted a comment on the Battlefront subreddit that tried to justify the reasons they made the decision. But it was immediately shot down.

The post is still online and now has more than 651,000 net downvotes. Before that, the least popular had a total 24,000 downvotes – and that was for a comment that specifically asked people to condemn it.

The comment said that EA appreciated the "candid feedback" and the players' "passion", but said that it had made the decision to improve the experience.

"The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes," the comment read.

"As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we're looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we'll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.

"We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets."

It concluded with a message reading "Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can".

Later, and presumably in response to that outcry, the company said that it would reduce the cost of those micro-transactions.