How Long Does it Take to Unlock Battlefront 2?

The controversy around the progression system of Star Wars: Battlefront II continues; it has been discovered it would take 4,528 hours of play to unlock all the content in the game or 2,100 dollars (on top of the purchase of the game). The upcoming Star Wars video game release has been a bit of PR nightmare for its studio EA. Fans were very upset to discover the high paywall inside the game when it came to unlocking several heroes, which resulted in EA's defense of the decision becoming the most down-voted post in Reddit history. While EA has since reduced that the amount of in-game credits needed to unlock Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and handful of others for online play, the problems are far from over.

Heroes are not the only unlockable content in Star Wars: Battlefront II. While the heroes situation caused a huge outrage because they're one of the selling points of the series, there are a number of items and skills that can only be accessed by using in-game credits or paying real money for with micro-transactions. While some unlockables are merely of a cosmetic nature, many more are vital to progression in the game. Typically in-game unlockables that are locked behind paywalls are more "side-grades" with no real effect on gameplay, Star Wars: Battlefront II very much uses an upgrade system - an upgrade system that requires an almost impossible investment for completionists.

The numbers to determine how much time and/or money it would take to unlock everything was calculated by Star Wars Gaming. The primary way to earn credits in Star Wars: Battlefront II is by playing in online matches and completing challenges. Although, as mentioned, they can be acquired "automatically" with real world cash. Looking at everything that the game has to offer, it will still take a considerable amount of time (and money) to unlock everything. The most consuming unlockables are the star cards, which unlock skills and items for use in online play. Once unlocked, the star cards must then be upgraded using even more credits. Star cards can be accessed by opening the game's loot crates. According to the report:

There is a grand total of 324 cards. Upgrading these will require a total of 155,520 crafting parts. This requires opening a grand total of 3,111 loot crates which will require 4,528 hours of gameplay.

The 600 credits received from a hero crate is worth 27% the cost of a hero crate. This is equivalent to 30 crystals. To account for this, I reduced the cost of a hero crate from 110 crystals to 80 crystals. 12,000 crystals can be bought for $100.

Opening the required 3,111 loot crates requires 248,880 crystals. If you only purchase $100 crystal packs, this will cost $2,100.

It should be mentioned that there's no requirement to unlock everything to participate in Star Wars: Battlefront II's multiplayer or single-player modes. All the unlockables are not even required to do well in the game. While some are definite upgrades, it's not quite a "pay-to-win" model. (It's just very, very close.) A player needn't have everything unlocked to have a good time playing Star Wars: Battlefront II.

However, this progression system also seems to require players to stick to one or just handful of ways to play the game. There are number of customization options open in Battlefront II, allowing users to tailor to the game to their play style. To unlock everything in one class will take a far less significant amount of time (and money). It's unlikely that any player will want to be tied to just one or two classes. Rather they'd probably prefer having the breadth of the entire game to explore.

Interestingly EA is planning on holding an AMA session on Reddit to discuss the upcoming release of the game. Undoubtedly the progression system of Star Wars: Battlefront II and the controversy surrounding it will be a big topic of conversation. Perhaps it will even prompt another about-face by the studio as followed the hero unlock controversy.