Star Wars Battlefront 2 hadn't even launched yet when it became the center of a massive controversy regarding its grind-heavy loot crate system and pay-to-win microtransactions. After Electronic Arts' hand was forced by both public backlash and a (rumored) private call from Star Wars IP owner Disney, the developers temporarily removed microtransactions from the game while they worked on finding a middle ground that would satisfy consumers. Today, a new patch for Star Wars Battlefront 2 has addressed many issues with the game, but fixes to the main problems plaguing the title remain glaring omissions from the current patch notes.

Beyond the microtransaction controversy itself, issues of game latency have been a widespread occurrence. The new 1.03 Patch for Battlefront does address traversal issues, but these refer to invisible walls that impede player movement rather than latency-caused player movement issues. Lag has been a major problem for many players since launch, but unfortunately this patch does not address that. Moreover, any players hoping for any balancing in this patch will only see a few minor changes - nothing that drastically changes the "meta" in Battlefront 2. 

While Electronic Arts has floundered in regards to fixing the game's most pressing issues, there are still plenty of other fixes to improve the game's quality of life in today's patch release.

Here's the Star Wars Battlefront 2 1.03 Patch notes in full:

  • Reduced the amount of Score and Battle points gained by using the Disruptor Shot mod for the NT-242 when used against vehicles.
  • Reduced the amount of Score and Battle points gained by using the LAAT Gunship against vehicles.
  • Reduced the amount of damage the Stinger Pistol ability does against Heroes & Villains.
  • Boba Fett can no longer capture objectives while hovering high above the objective.
  • Blocked of some areas on Kamino and Naboo where players could use aerial units to gain an unfair advantage over other players.
  • Tweaked the spawning positions when playing Strike on Kamino.
  • Tweaked the combat area on Tatooine when playing Strike.
  • Tweaked the combat area on Endor when playing Blast.
  • Tweaked the combat area on Hoth when playing Blast.
  • Tweaked the spawning positions of Starfighters when playing Galactic Assault on Tatooine.
  • Tweaked the spawn positions of the AAT when playing Galactic Assault on Kashyyyk.
  • Fixed several collision and traversal issues on Jakku.
  • Fixed several collision and traversal issues on Kashyyyk.
  • Fixed several collision and traversal issues on Endor.
  • Fixed several collision issues on the Death Star II.
  • Fixed several UI issues in the spawn screen when playing Heroes vs Villains.
  • Fixed an issue where the objective markers would not update correctly during Galactic Assault on Endor.
  • Fixed an issue where some automatic doors would not open when approached by Villains in Heroes vs Villains.
  • Fixed an issue where texture was missing near the East Gate Control when playing Strike on Yavin IV.
  • Fixed an issue where the reticule from Lando's Sharp Shot ability would remain active longer than intended.
  • Reduced the amount of the damage the NT-242 with the Disruptor Shot mod does against the AT-ST.
  • Fixed an issue where the Scan Dart ability would not work correctly when used on doors.
  • Players will no longer be able to start a round if the pre-round requirements are not met.
  • Fixed an issue where the HUD would indicate that friendly forces are taking damage when being hit with by the Ion Charge ability on the AT-RT.
  • The Heavy Trooper's Impact Grenade ability VFX now works as intended.
  • The DLT-20A Targeting Rifle VFX now works as intended.
  • The Pulse Cannon ability VFX now works as intended.
  • Fixed several issues with the End of Round screen where tall characters would not fit in the screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the players could not Zoom after switching weapons from an overheated TL50.
  • Fixed several clipping issues that occurred during the campaign.
  • Fixed an issue where Iden's Star Cards will display their multiplayer stats during the Campaign.
  • Fixed several animation issues for Heroes and Villains.
  • Fixed several texture issues in Arcade mode.
  • Fixed several collision issues in Arcade mode.
  • The End of Round screen now gives feedback to players on Rank Up that they are awarded with Credits.
  • More reinforcements are awarded after each phase in Galactic Assault.
  • Time required to complete interact objectives has been reduced.
EA stock 3 billion dollar loss Star Wars Battlefront 2

Many gamers have pointed to Overwatch as the go-to example for how to do late crates correctly, with only cosmetic items finding their way into the game. While this is something that Electronic Arts considered for Star Wars Battlefront 2, the developers ultimately wanted to ensure their release stayed canon to the franchise. Suffice it to say, a pink DartVaderor jumping around doing a moonwalk victory emote didn't fit the bill. Ultimately, the product they released wasn't consumer-pleasing anyway, and many fans are still eagerly waiting to hear the proper fix for it.

While the general legal consensus is that loot boxes aren't gambling - a global discussion that Battlefront 2 certainly lit a fire - the game has garnered a negative fervor to the industry's loot box trend and mechanics that heavily favor gamers who pay more than the average consumer. While Battlefront 2 may be getting heavy adjustments to fix this, other upcoming Electronic Arts releases like UFC 3 will allow players to directly purchase upgrades to their fighters in multiplayer modes, so EA doesn't have its figurative hands clean of pay-to-win controversy just yet.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The patch is currently available across all platforms.

Source: Electronic Arts