In a letter published on Thursday evening, general manager Oskar Gabrielson of EA's DICE studio — the studio responsible for the game — wrote, "We’re turning off all in-game purchases."
Again, this is before the game launched on Friday.
Though the button prompt still shows up in the game, it leads to an error screen if you try it:
That's from this morning, Friday, on my PlayStation 4. Today is the game's official launch day, where "Star Wars Battlefront 2" becomes widely available at retail and on digital storefronts on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
But the controversy isn't over. Reddit users have latched onto another line from an EA statement. "The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date," Gabrielson wrote in the letter, "only after we’ve made changes to the game."
It's unclear when those microtransactions might come back to "Battlefront 2," but the mere spectre is keeping fans away.
"The Microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront 2 have been TEMPORARILY disabled. Don't fall for EA's tricks, this isn't over yet," reads one Reddit thread. "Don't give EA an inch: "The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date," says another.