Home Gaming Battlefield V may not have lootboxes, but it may just have something similar in “airlifts”

Battlefield V may not have lootboxes, but it may just have something similar in “airlifts”

2 min read
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When Battlefield V was revealed by DICE a few weeks back, a big deal was made about the fact that the upcoming game wouldn’t have any lootboxes. This was in response to the colossal stink that was kicked up surrounding EA and DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and its scummy microtransaction system that almost coerced players into buying lootboxes with real world money if they wanted to stay competitive in the game. Over the weekend at E3 it was reiterated that Battlefield V won’t be getting lootboxes and when it came time for DICE to talk about the future of Battlefront 2, they doubled down by admitting their mistakes and promising to not repeat them. Apparently though, that doesn’t quite mean the end of lootboxes, just the end of EA and DICE calling them lootboxes.

As DICE revealed more info on Battlefield V they showed off what the game’s Standard and Deluxe editions entails. And here’s where things got a little testy as the Deluxe Edition would be getting “20 Weekly Items with Airlift”. According to the Battlefield’s official preorder portal, this allows you to “Receive vital supplies with 20 weekly Airlifts, each containing one customization item.” That sounds an awful lot like a lootbox to me.

Now we’ve known for a while that Battlefield V will have paid-for cosmetic items – none of which affect gameplay as all items with impact will be available to all players to unlock only via playing the game and levelling up – to allow you to customize your soldier. What it sounds like though is that you can either pay individually for these cosmetic items as you see them, or you can pay upfront to essentially get a weekly lootbox-esque Airlift that contains a cosmetic item. It doesn’t appear that you can know upfront which items are in these Airlifts, making it sound even more lootbox-y.

I would be taking an educated guess that the additional cost of Deluxe over Standard edition would probably work out cheaper than buying 20 individual cosmetic items, which is what would make this alluring. Admittedly, the fact that it’s only cosmetics does make this far more palatable – I personally have zero issue with cosmetic lootboxes, especially in a “live service” game like Battlefield V intends to be. The devs need to make money from somewhere to keep bringing out those seasonal expansions that will now no longer require a premium pass to access. This is the same model Overwatch has applied since launch and it’s very successful.

That being said, don’t lie to us, EA and DICE. Just because you’re not using the now cursed L-word, doesn’t make it cool to sneak some lootbox elements into your game.

Last Updated: June 11, 2018

9 Comments

  1. Kromas

    June 11, 2018 at 14:48

    Overwatch did lootboxes right. 2 years later we are still getting new maps and heroes and modes and events and no season passes and no DLC and no other bullshit.

    Reply

    • HvR

      June 11, 2018 at 16:47

      On top of that the original sales price was between 50% and 25% cheaper (platform dependent) than the RRP of the typical big name publisher releases.

      Reply

  2. Gavin Mannion

    June 11, 2018 at 15:26

    I have no problem with cosmetic lootboxes. It’s a great way for the company to earn the money needed to keep the business going.

    However going on stage to say we won’t do lootboxes to then turnaround and offer the same thing as airdrops is ridiculous.

    I hate how the world right now just accepts lying.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      June 11, 2018 at 15:54

      Not lying, nope, MARKETING

      😛

      Reply

    • HvR

      June 11, 2018 at 16:46

      It is EA, everything they say poop that needs to be sprayed gold.

      Why anybody would think they all of a sudden will change their feathers after operating like that for 2 decades is what actually surprise me.

      Reply

  3. Admiral Chief

    June 11, 2018 at 15:54

    Loot boxes
    Air drops
    Swag bags
    Treasure sacks

    Reply

    • Magoo

      June 12, 2018 at 08:22

      Swag bags.. That’s not a bad idea.

      Imagine how foolish we would seem if we complained about swag bags all the time.

      Reply

  4. Venaborn

    June 11, 2018 at 18:05

    What Overwatch doing is illegal in Belgium and called gambling for children.
    With many other countries investigating legality of this system.
    Yeah, truly a model of player friendly game.

    Reply

  5. Magoo

    June 12, 2018 at 08:18

    What have they said about airlifts? It could be a service where you choose items or parts of items that get delivered each week.

    Reply

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