DICE addresses Star Wars: Battlefront II loot box concerns

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 finished up its open beta only hours ago, and player response is muddied: people love the actual game but not so much its loot box and progression systems. It's prompted a fair bit of debate this week, but in a new post marking the end of the beta, DICE has laid out its plans and hopes for crates and progression.

DICE's words on progression and crates are delivered in bullet points, and are worth posting verbatim here:

There are many things you can earn in the game, including weapons, attachments, credits, Star Cards, Emotes, Outfits and Victory Poses.
As a balance goal, we’re working towards having the most powerful items in the game only earnable via in-game achievements.
Crates will include a mix of of Star Cards, Outfits, Emotes or Victory Poses.
Players earn crates by completing challenges and other gameplay milestones, or by purchasing them with in-game credits or Crystals, our premium currency.
If you get a duplicate Star Card in a crate, you will get crafting parts which you can then use to help upgrade the Star Card of your choice.
And lastly, you have to earn the right to be able to upgrade Star Cards and unlock most Weapons. You can only upgrade or unlock them if you have reached a high enough rank, which is determined by playing the game.

That last point is interesting: the things you receive randomly in crates (Star Cards) will have a barrier to entry when it comes to upgrades. It's complicated to say the least, but will people be able to play multiplayer without worrying about the effects of Star Cards? It's possible, with DICE writing that it may consider a mode to support it.

"We also have heard some players are looking for a way to play where all players will have the same set of Star Cards with flattened values," the post reads. "Like everything else, we will be continually making necessary changes to ensure the game is fun for everyone. We will work to make sure the system is balanced both for players who want to earn everything, as well as for players who are short on time and would like to move faster in their progress towards various rewards."

Read the full post over here, and Omri's impressions of the beta over here.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.