EA waived skins in loot boxes for fear of violating Star Wars canon

EA chose not to include purely cosmetic items such as skins in loot boxes from Star Wars: Battlefront II, as doing so would go against the signature expressions and style choices that are part of the Star Wars universe frame of reference.

Speaking at a conference, Blake Jorgensen, a chief financial officer at Electronic Arts, said that EA has made a strong commitment not to violate the Star Wars canon. He said EA was concerned that the Star Wars brand would be violated if cosmetic items were changed. He specifically mentioned the example that a Darth Vader dressed in white or pink would be very strange, Polygon reports.

According to Jorgensen, these kinds of cosmetic changes would undermine the realism or meticulous simulation of the Star Wars world. When asked, he did indicate that EA is currently in talks with Lucasfilm to release certain cosmetic items in Star Wars: Battlefront II. EA wants to do this because, according to Jorgensen, fans need it, citing a lightsaber with a different color as an example.

Instead of cosmetic items, EA chose to fill loot boxes with content that allowed players to gain gameplay benefits through microtransactions. Two weeks ago around the release of Star Wars: Battlefront II, there was a lot of criticism, after which EA decided to temporarily deactivate the microtransactions.