Star Wars: Battlefront II

Pay to win policies have always been a sure-fire way to ruin the game experience for most of your player base and yet developers and publishers keep doing it. It may be profitable in the short term, but should and will they ever stop?

EA and DICE are adding another huge change as part of the progression system overhaul for Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - all heroes and hero ships are now unlocked. This means there will be no more grinding for Yoda or Darth Vader.

Star Wars Battlefront II's progression system is one of the most heinous acts of pay to win in AAA games and caused some massive backlash. It seems enough suits at EA took notice and decided to actually revamp the system altogether.

EA Play will be hosted out of Los Angeles before the big E3 showcase starts. The main show will be open to the paying public and go on for an extra hour each day. The morning hours of the show will be reserved for the members of the press.

Rumours that Disney is shopping around, looking for a studio that will replace EA are swirling around. After five years and two sub-par games, Lucasfilm's parent company might be in the market for a developer that will restore the game franchise to its former glory.

Activision Blizzard's revenue from "in-game net bookings" reached $4 (£2.90) billion for 2017. Half of the money came from Candy Crush operator, King, and the other half came via their PC and console titles. EA reported $787 million in what it calls "live services" for the latest quarter.

Sweden has joined the legislative battle against loot boxes. The minister of civil affairs, Ardalan Shekarabi, suggested the mechanic could be banned by 2019. A study from the University of Hamburg prompted the German Youth Protection Commission to also take action.

EA has shared its preliminary financial results for the fiscal quarter that ended in December, 2017. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson said that players have clocked in 'hundreds of millions of hours in our games across console, mobile and PC'. The Sims 4 player base has grown 35 percent.

EA's finance chief Blake Jorgensen announced the return of the microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II. The system should be turned back on in the "in the next few months". 

Star Wars Battlefront II's the Last Jedi Season has come to an end. DICE has plans for a new progression system they say are developing with player feedback in mind. A time limited game mode is coming to Battlefront II in February.