‘Star Wars: Battlefront 2’ Increases Credit Payouts, Larger Loot Box Changes Still Incoming
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 sparked a huge amount of controversy at launch with how the shooter ties progression to loot boxes. The backlash from PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC gamers was so severe DICE and Electronic Arts took the drastic step of suspending microtransactions and politicians began rattling sabers about regulating loot boxes. The changes to loot boxes in Battlefront 2 is still to come but DICE introduced some larger in-game credit payouts via an update Monday.
Stating they have learned a lot, DICE began making adjustments to credit payouts at the end of multiplayer matches and in Arcade mode. The end of match payouts is the first step to taking player performance into account versus only time played. The total credit payout is being increased with the top players receiving even more.
DICE did not provide any details on how the new payout is calculated but VindicoAtrum in the Battlefront Reddit community reported 685 credits received for a 3rd place finish on the Kashyyk map. Meanwhile, matty25 reported he received 325 credits after a fourth-place finish in a quick match on Kamino where his team did not get past the first phase of Galactic Assault.
It appears the top three players will receive approximately double the amount of credits than in the past while those who fall outside of the top three will receive around 30 percent more than before. It’s not clear yet if this will be enough to dissuade the rash of players who simply go idle during a match to earn credits without actually playing.
Meanwhile, the cap on the number of credits that can be earned in the Arcade mode has been increased by three to 1,500 credits. DICE was blasted for implementing the cap in the first place due to how much time it takes to grind out the credits necessary to purchase a loot box. A total removal of the cap would be preferable from players but this combined with the increased payout for other matches is a decent first step.
The Daily Login crate will also provide more crafting parts going forward.
None of these changes alter the underlying problem of the Star Card progression system in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 to loot boxes with random content. DICE states “much larger changes” are still coming, implying changes to loot boxes with the eventual return of microtransactions. Whether this includes structural changes to the progression system with a move to loot boxes that contain items that do not impact gameplay remains to be seen.
