Have you ever worked a corporate job as a manager? Let me explain a couple things to you.
Government regulation is something NO business wants to deal with, especially if they deal with it in other parts of the company, and don’t have to in a particular division (say like running a theme park vs. making a video game), or if it cannot be avoided, you do absolutely EVERYTHING in your power to MINIMIZE the exposure to regulation.
Now, video games like Battlefront are lightly regulated. Fine, you deal, ya know?But gambling on the other hand is heavily regulated, not just in the US, but in most countries. Major PITA. Enormous costs involved with audits, security, and compliance.
If you’re a major division head of one of the largest business conglomerates in the world, and it comes to your attention that one of your downline CEOs of a company that is in your chain of command has implemented features in a video game that are drawing not only ire from their customers (who are ultimately your customers), but is also possibly a a feature that is heavily regulated by every country it’s sold in (even outright banned in some), and some of those governments are turning the evil eye of Sauron your way, what do you do?
Keep in mind that you have bosses. This downline guy sold this idea as a huge money maker, but neglected to consider the ramifications of entering a heavily regulated market unprepared, and without any of the approvals required (read that as oops, we’re fining you millions of dollars for that little gaff), which will likely not only wipe out any profit, but put their whole downline company in the red, possibly for years, and possibly not justtheir little company.
You quash that **** most Riki Tik. You come down on that dude with the hammer of god, you leave such a crater in his ass that nobody else is going to want to even climb the rim to look down to where his ass used to be.
THAT is what just happened with Battlefront.
When governments start talking about investigating your video game as gambling, you done ****** up, and the quickest way out of that is to shut that **** down. Read what EA said. Progression will occur through game play.
This isn’t a trick, they’re not just trying to get you to buy the game so they can turn right around and turn it back on, or pull that **** in another game. That wouldn’t solve the actual problem they are addressing with what they did today.
As much as we all want to feel like this is about right and wrong, it’s not. It’s about Money. Not the money from micro transactions. This is about the fines for the above, and the cost of complying with heavy government regulation. MONEY.
I’ve recently owned a business that was tanked by governmental over regulation and taxation, and I’m speaking from not only that experience, but from the experience of also having been a manager of global departments in two previous companies that deal with government regulation and heavy government regulation in different products.
This tiff we’re having with EA over micro transactions is a blip on the radar for Disney. That threat of government regulation and the resulting compliance costs and fines from multiple governments were a klaxon horn that got the needed attention from the right stakeholder at Disney.
Loot box progression will not be returning to Battlefront.
"See, they do listen to us!" Amazing. It really is. 
