Gary Whitta, writer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has not minced his words when discussing the recent cancellation of yet another Star Wars game at EA. The title was originally under the directorship of Uncharted’s Amy Hennig but the game, codenamed Ragtag, was reviewed internally and cut back, resulting in Amy leaving the project. Visceral Games, the chaps behind the classic Dead Space who working on the project were shut down and Ragtag became Orca, a much more focused, smaller project. It seems Gary saw the original version of the game and he’s not happy with EA.

Partnerships between two companies are not uncommon in entertainment. A company will often allow a franchise to be used by a development studio, animation house, or publisher, coming to some sort of deal in the process. Usually, this works out well for everyone. The franchise gets to expand to new markets and demographics and the people working on it get to labor on a beloved franchise that many of them have followed for years.

It only took Star Wars Battlefront 2 a mere few days to go from one of the most anticipated titles of last year, to, quite possibily, its most infamous. The controversy surrounding its pay-to-win loot box progression not only made reddit history, with the most downvoted comment of all time, but also spurred state institutions into investigating loot boxes themselves.

Anger over Electronic Arts approach to microtransactions — specifically loot boxes and concerns over pay-to-win tactics — was still on the minds of the company today at the publisher’s EA Play event.

Electronic Arts has just unlocked all of the heroes in the game, meaning you will no longer have to go through Battlefront 2's awful progression system to play as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader -- beloved characters who were available for FREE and without all of the extra work (or cash) in the first Battlefront. This doesn't excuse Electronic Arts for its initial plan to drain players of every last penny with its predatory microtransactions, but it's something.

Electronic Arts unveiled its plans for sweeping changes to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 last week, including an overhaul to the progression system that removes Star Cards from crates, a return of the Crystals currency, and limits on what you can buy with them—which is to say, cosmetic items only. The update went live today, revealing that it's also unlocked all hero characters and ships: No more having to grind your face off for credits before you can start chopping people to bits as Darth Vader.

EA and DICE have detailed the changes being made to Star Wars: Battlefront II's progression system after hastily turning off the ability to buy virtual currency at the game's launch last year. The most fundamental change is that progression is now linear, meaning that star cards and all gameplay-impacting items are now earned as set rewards for leveling up. Experience points are doled out for characters, classes, and ships that give you skill points at level ups to unlock or upgrade star cards.

Though EA hasn't announced definitive plans for the future of its Star Wars games and their releases, the company's executives offered some idea of when players might expect Respawn's upcoming action game, as well as the next Star Wars Battlefront sequel.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowers its price target and profit forecasts for Electronic Arts due to poor sales of its "Star Wars" title.

At the height of the controversy surrounding microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II, a Reddit user who goes by the name Kensgold posted an open letter to publisher EA and other developers in the video game industry. “I am 19 and addicted to gambling,” he wrote. Kensgold wasn’t talking about roulette tables or online poker. He was talking about spending over £10,000 on in-game purchases over the last several years.

Just about the most frustrating ‘movement’ in recent gaming memory has been the push by gamers for some governmental organization to classify Loot Boxes as ‘gambling’ – which would make them illegal and thus prevent them from being in any game, because online gambling is illegal. So, in order to regulate (instead of outright ban) them, you’d need to re-write the gambling code.

It's easy to think that Star Wars: Battlefront II is the sole result of Electronic Arts' work. That publisher taken the lead on developing and promoting the sci-fi shooter, which is available now on PC and consoles. But Lucasfilm is involved with everything.

A US politician has condemned the "predatory practices" seen in games that feature loot boxes or crates. Games use them to give random rewards and they are acquired either through gameplay or by spending real cash. Hawaiian state representative Chris Lee said games using boxes resembled casinos and called for laws to limit their use.

Hawaii State Representative Chris Lee is taking a stand against what he calls "the spread of predatory practices in online gaming." As mentioned in an announcement specifically about EA and Star Wars Battlefront II, Lee and others are currently "looking at legislation" in the upcoming year that could prohibit the sale of games to players that are under 21 years of age, and possibly even restrict the inclusion of gambling elements, which Lee believes are present in Star Wars Battlefront II via the game's loot boxes.

So over the past week the big story has been the massive backlash against EA for the loot box mechanics on Star Wars: Battlefront II. According to some very conservative estimates, it would take 40 hours of continuous play to unlock Darth Vader as a playable character. This is assuming you save every single point of in-game currency and don’t spend any of them on other things. Then you’d need another 40 hours to unlock Luke Skywalker. Even if you’re just going to save up for a simple loot box, it will take three hours of play.

EA has told its investors that removing microtransactions from Star Wars Battlefront II will not have "a material impact" on the game's projected earnings. Following intense community criticism, EA announced that it had temporarily suspended Star Wars Battlefront 2's premium currency, Crystals, ahead of the game's launch yesterday.

Disney may have stepped in on Electronic Arts’ (EA) public relations nightmare revolving around their latest release, Star Wars: Battlefront II. During the past week, the video games’ big debut, which was supposed to be a comeback after 2015’s reboot letdown, has been clouded with drama surrounding microtransactions, loot boxes, enabling gambling and angry Star Wars fans. While the idea of pay-to-win has been plaguing the video game industry since mobile gaming started, fans have been relentless in their protest to stop Battlefront II from becoming a game meant to make money for EA, and not for the Star Wars community.

Angry gamers are winning the war against Electronic Arts' in-game money-making strategy in its new "Star Wars Battlefront II" title. Wall Street is taking notice and lowering its expectations for the video game's financial prospects. The company announced Thursday it is temporarily turning off all in-game purchases in "Star Wars Battlefront II" in response to the negative sentiment from the gaming community.

Games publisher EA has faced further criticism over its latest Star Wars game, Battlefront II. Many players were unhappy about the credits that unlock key Star Wars characters. The number required has now been reduced but so has the number that can be earned through gameplay. The alternative is to purchase them. Others have complained about the use of "loot crates" - which some say are essentially a gambling tool.

There are three currencies in Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Each one can be used for different things, and you’ll need to understand the entire economy if you hope to be competitive in multiplayer. Progression is an important part of the game, and progression is complicated.