9 Disastrous Mistakes That Killed Star Wars Battlefront 2

9. Leaving Random Progression To Be Discovered In The Game's Beta

Almost like EA and DICE knew their pay-to-win framework was going to ruffle feathers to the point of plucking them straight out, nowhere in the run-up to release was their wider framework of completely random progression showcased.

Granted, it's damn hard to "show off" a component that literally asks consumers to pull a lever and hope they get a worthwhile upgrade, but at least Monolith livestreamed ahead of time how Shadow of War's loot boxes and structure was going to work. Crucially, they clarified that such things were completely optional.

In Battlefront 2's case, we found out during the beta.

Literally a week before release.

As was the case with Mass Effect Andromeda's early access play on EA Origins, once EA lost control over its marketing message, this was a demonstrable mistake that only got more and more out of control. Quickly fans rallied around which parts of the experience needed refining and which could feasibly still be "in testing", leading to a launch day that confirmed all our worst fears.