Surprise: EA is implementing real money microtransactions into Battlefield V

Polycount

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Everybody knows modern AAA video game publishers have a thing for microtransactions. Just about every new game released -- single player or otherwise -- by the likes of EA, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard contains them in some form.

However, many were shocked to find that Battlefield V launched without any real-money purchase options. Every reward had to be earned through actual gameplay. Some thought that this meant EA was turning a new leaf and focusing more on fun rather than monetization.

Alas, those dreams have been proven false today. EA has announced that it will indeed be bringing monetization to Battlefield V by way of its upcoming "Battlefield Currency" (BC) system. BC will be purchased with real money and used to obtain top-tier cosmetics, unique "Elite" characters with special weapons, and even "Time Savers" which can be used to speed up XP gains.

None of these purchasable items seem particularly troublesome for now (with the exception, perhaps, of the "Elite" characters). However, for those that assumed Battlefield V would never get true microtransactions, this news will probably come as a disappointment nonetheless.

Further, some less-trusting individuals may argue that EA only waited so long to implement microtransactions to ensure that the game's review scores remained high on launch - not many well-known reviewers will knock points off a score for potential future issues, after all.

Regardless, only time will tell how the community will react to this situation after BC launches on April 4. As always, we'll update you if any interesting new developments come to light.

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Todays society is very soft and has sold its soul for convenience. How far did the Star Wars Battlefront debacle get? Nowhere.
I am not some hater of micro-transactions, just remove any payment source from any device your worried about. I am torn on how I feel about this now.
 
Why would anyone be upset? I could swear I saw EA say when the game launched that they wouldn't have microtransaction but that they could come later on. Didn't TS have a article on all this in the past when the game launched?

Most games have these including EAs hit Apex Legends. So what's the big deal? It's not like BFV is a big money maker at this point. Will this help them make money, depends on what kind of loot, are we talking cosmetic or pay to win like weapons, maps etc. It's not cosmetic then I could see some issues or unhappy players as EA did say that maps and other stuff would be free. So I am guessing this is just like cosmetic items and possible rank related?

Lets not forget that Apex could be the reason they are even maybe trying to do this to begin with. They have found some success and want to milk it. It's not all that surprising, it's EA after all. All the big name companies do these types of things, ALL OF THEM.
 
Every Battle Royale game went down the micro transaction route did you expect a cash hungry publisher like EA to miss such an opportunity?
 
What's next? Next gen consoles come with robotic arms that physically reach into your wallet?

Overwatch did not release with microtransaction bullcrap. It did not have loot box gambling, either. They added it after I bought the game. I should demand a full refund. The game is nothing like what I originally paid for. I don't play it any more because of their actions. Imagine if vehicle manufacturers did this to our cars.

I would be ticked off if I had bought BF V. Although it being from EA, it never would have happened in the first place.
 
I'm sure some people bought the game who are against microtransactions thinking it won't have them and now they get shafted. Product they spent their money on is not the same. Call of Duty did the same thing with Black Ops 4, they know people don't like microtransactions so they wait until the right time to pull this. There's no reason why they couldn't have microtransactions at the launch except to bait people in who are against them and get positive feedback.

Why would anyone be upset? I could swear I saw EA say when the game launched that they wouldn't have microtransaction but that they could come later on. Didn't TS have a article on all this in the past when the game launched?

Most games have these including EAs hit Apex Legends. So what's the big deal? It's not like BFV is a big money maker at this point. Will this help them make money, depends on what kind of loot, are we talking cosmetic or pay to win like weapons, maps etc. It's not cosmetic then I could see some issues or unhappy players as EA did say that maps and other stuff would be free. So I am guessing this is just like cosmetic items and possible rank related?

Lets not forget that Apex could be the reason they are even maybe trying to do this to begin with. They have found some success and want to milk it. It's not all that surprising, it's EA after all. All the big name companies do these types of things, ALL OF THEM.
Having some skins probably won't ruin a game for anyone but if you pay full price for a game you should get the full product, this way they expect you to pay more (they absolutely do) for some skins or else you're gonna "feel" behind because you have a default skin while some guy has a shiny one, you know how skins go. I'm not suceptible to that but many people are and it's just a poor practice to pull stuff like this. As for Apex, it's a free game, BF is not.
 
Todays society is very soft and has sold its soul for convenience. How far did the Star Wars Battlefront debacle get? Nowhere.
I am not some hater of micro-transactions, just remove any payment source from any device your worried about. I am torn on how I feel about this now.

they gutted the entire progression system and brought back cosmetic MTX instead of P2W. so it got somewhere. and im sure the MTX would be more egregious had that situation not happened.
 
I'm not overly upset about this. It's obvious that microtransactions are here to stay. The companies simply make too much money from them. And frankly, they'd be foolish not to incorporate some form of microtransaction into their games.

But I do have some qualifiers:

1) They don't involve additional content that can't eventually be reached by non-paying players.
2) They don't involve perks or bonuses that can't eventually be reached by non-paying players.
3) They don't involve unfair player advantages (especially in PvP situations).

In other words, we're talking pretty much cosmetic upgrades only. If someone wants to be dumb enough to pay for a gold-plated M-1 Carbine, or an M4A3 tank with racing stripes on it.....well, whatever floats their boat.

Otherwise, I'll just ignore their requests for $$, and keep on gaming.
 
It's a shame because the devs really did a beautiful job with the maps and models in this game, and most of the previous BF games as well for that matter. I will just never, ever, buy this game.
 
Todays society is very soft and has sold its soul for convenience. How far did the Star Wars Battlefront debacle get? Nowhere.
I am not some hater of micro-transactions, just remove any payment source from any device your worried about. I am torn on how I feel about this now.

People just need to stop buying digital items and games will get better.
 
This was always going to happen and most people should have been aware before the game launched that at sometime EA/Dice were going to do this. The Battlefield community wanted and voiced loudly that they wanted rid of the Premium model that has been in previous versions of the game since BF3 if I remember correctly. The Premium model split the player base up, if you paid for it you got a lot of extra maps that non Premium players couldn't play on this splitting the community up and at times you couldn't even play the new maps because only the base maps were being played. At least with this new way they have done it it's not pay to win at this stage and every body gets the new maps and other content. The problem is EA and Dice screwed this game up at release in a big way, the game should have been held back for at least another 5-6 months at least.
 
Todays society is very soft and has sold its soul for convenience. How far did the Star Wars Battlefront debacle get? Nowhere.
Maybe because SWBT2 is a pretty good game now? In my case I can't say for other platforms but on XBox there is no problems with multiplayer at all. No empty rooms. The last Capital Supremacy is just a great mode despite on some bugs. And I prefer SWBT2 to BFI/V because of some gameplay factors that give me a better game experience.
 
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