Petition to Dissolve EA's Exclusive Star Wars License Close to 100k

Last week, a new petition kicked off on change.org that called for an end to the exclusive, multi-year publishing deal between EA and Disney for Star Wars games. The text detailed plenty of grievances from fans, and ultimately resolved to say that EA has "proven to their consumers that they honestly don't care about the game play experience," and that all who have signed want to see the deal dissolved. The petition has soared past an early goal of 15,000 signatures and is now working toward 150,000. At the time of this writing, it has just surpassed 78,000 signatures.

While it often takes more than just a petition to change distasteful elements of games, movies or TV shows, the problems surrounding EA and DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront II stemming from the game's loot box system grew to such a volume that Disney itself reportedly had to step in. EA hasn't garnered any favor among Star Wars fans as it stands, thanks to the cancellation of Visceral Studios' Star Wars video game and the closing of Visceral itself.

Despite closing down loot box micro-transaction practices (which several are beginning to see as gambling), fans don't seem like they'll be letting up on the publisher anytime soon. As the numbers behind the petition rapidly grow, the obvious sign of displeasure from players and casual fans alike is obvious. EA is no stranger to developing game franchises, but when dealing with an audience that extends beyond gamers, certain practices that are common among the gaming audience don't translate well. But beyond that, the unfair play-to-win model has never found favor among players.

Regardless, the game's multi-player is now more fair and balanced than before, but right now it looks like that won't be enough for Electronic Arts to avoid the disdain of over 70,000 fans.