EA is preparing to completely overhaul Star Wars Battlefront II’s controversial progression system.
As it stands, players can unlock gameplay-affecting items like Star Cards by purchasing loot boxes with real-world money, allowing those willing to spend extra cash to get a leg up on the competition.
The publisher’s use of the gambling-like mechanic has caused a stir, with politicians and officials around the world calling for a clampdown on the “predatory” monetization method.
With the debate still raging, EA has decided to take action by making in-game progression entirely linear with the release of a new update on March 21.
After the ‘progression update’ has been implemented, players will only be able to obtain Star Cards and other items that impact gameplay by playing the game and racking up experience points.
Players will earn experiences points for any of the classes, characters, and ships they use in multiplayer. If they amass enough points to gain a level for that unit, players will then receive one Skill Point that can be used to unlock or upgrade Star Cards.
Moving forward, loot crates will also no longer include Star Cards, and won’t be available for purchase. Instead, they’ll be dished out as rewards for logging in daily and completing various challenges, and will only feature cosmetic items like emotes and victory poses.
Players will keep all of the Star Cards, heroes, weapons, and various items they’ve already earned, with those remaining available post-update irrespective of how much or how little progress they’ve already made.
You can read more about the upcoming changes over on the EA website.