Publisher EA has a bad history with unnecessary monetization of their titles, but in a refreshing change of pace, Star Wars: Squadrons will reportedly not feature any microtransactions. Despite having exclusive rights to the Star Wars license, publisher Electronic Arts has been accused of squandering their golden goose, cancelling a number of high-profile Star Wars titles while hamstringing others with predatory post-release monetization and a dearth of content.
Fortunately, the mega-publisher seems to have cleaned up its act in recent years. They effectively righted the ship on Star Wars Battlefront II, stripping out the poorly-received microtransaction elements in favor of more traditional progression systems. The change was "too little, too late," for some players, but the existing community was thrilled by the revisions, which essentially resulted in a "2.0" version of Battlefront II. Meanwhile, 2019 saw the release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a cinematic single-player adventure inspired by the Souls series, featuring high-caliber production values and a unique story set within the existing canon of Star Wars. The title was universally well-received and a sequel is expected for next-gen consoles.
The latest Star Wars title, the multiplayer space combat simulator, Star Wars Squadrons, seems primed for a "games as service" experience rife with microtransactions and other predatory monetization models, but the game from developer EA Motive doesn't feature microtransactions of any kind. As reported in a Game Informer interview of Creative Director Ian Frazier, all in-game cosmetic upgrades will be earned simply by playing the game. These days, in-game collectables are frequently relegated to an in-game store where they can be purchased for real money, but Star Wars is going the old-fashioned route of rewarding players for actually playing.
When it was first announced, people were skeptical of Star Wars Squadrons for potentially being a cheap cash-grab meant to capitalize on pent-up anticipation for a new Rogue Squadron or X-Wing game. However, based on the in-game footage shown at EA Play 2020, the space combat sim looks to be complex in its mechanics and authentic in its visuals. The entire game is played in first person, and it's 100% VR-compatible.
Star Wars Squadrons features 60 different loadout components that can be customized by players, and it's an absolute joy that such rich customization isn't being exploited by microtransactions, at least for now. While EA deserves praise for this move, there's always the fear they could quietly add them after the riding an initial wave of good will. Activision is particularly fond of this tactic, adding post-launch microtransactions to Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled after previously making a big deal of the title's lack of "recurrent user spending." Hopefully, this won't be the case with Star Wars Squadrons, which is shaping up to be the first great multiplayer Star Wars game in a long time.
Source: Game Informer