It looks like Electronic Arts can't release a Star Wars game without facing negative backlash from fans. Their two previous AAA games, Star Wars: Battlefront and its sequel, received a lot of flak for its microtransaction and loot box mechanics.
This time, major perks of EA's game subscription services will reportedly not cover their upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Unpleasant Surprise
Just days behind the game's expected release, EA announced that the highly anticipated game will not have pre-order early access or ten-hour free trial. They cited spoiler concerns as the motivation for the decision.
These two omissions angered many fans, as most of them subscribed to EA Access or Origin Access exactly for these two features. EA arbitrarily choosing which of their new games will fall under the service didn't sit well with many of the fans.
Some critics also noted that although early access to the game could indeed lead to the spread of spoilers, removing the ten-hour free trial absolutely doesn't. It is thus heavily speculated by the gaming community that EA decided to remove this feature since Star Wars: Fallen Order might not offer much in terms of game time.
Being an entirely single-player game, there's not a lot of room for replayability. Playing the game for ten hours might be enough for some gamers to feel satisfied with the title. Ultimately, this could lead to gamers not buying the game at all.
Early Warning
Although EA only released an announcement recently through their tweet, it's actually been public knowledge for some time now that Star Wars: Fallen Order will not be part of EA Access.
A customer support thread showed signs that Fallen Order will not be part of EA Access or Origin Access. Promotional materials, even those in Fallen Order's official website, had no mention of either of the two subscription services.
Even in that thread, customers have already shown their displeasure at the idea of the game not being covered by their subscriptions. Some even threatened to unsubscribe the moment they get confirmation that Fallen Order will get special treatment by EA. In spite of this, EA went through with it, knowing full well how their customers would feel about their actions.
Consolation Prize
EA has already anticipated the backlash and is ready with a consolation for EA Access and Origin Access subscribers. Instead of getting a free trial or early access for pre-purchased copies, they are instead offering a 10% discount for the game, along with exclusive cosmetics available only to subscribers.
EA would be wrong if they thought this would be enough to appease the fans. The comment threads on their announcement threads are currently full of disgruntled customers. Whether EA is ready for this kind of negative reaction or not, they should be ready to face the consequences of their actions.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be the first EA game to release on Steam in many years. Its Steam release marks EA's return to the widely popular gaming platform. Meanwhile, the game will also be released on EA's own game store, Origin.
Console gamers will be able to enjoy lightsabers and acrobatics on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. In case you missed it, the PS4 Trophies for the game are already online and could contain potential spoilers to the game.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be released on Nov. 15, for $59.99.
