Report: Accusations of pay-to-win in UFC 3

Fresh from the controversy of Star Wars Battlefront II, EA has just launched the beta for their upcoming EA Sports title, UFC 3. Now, in the past, this has been a series that hasn't shied away from microtransactions, but it would appear, at least according to Astute Gaming, that they are "the most egregious ever".

There is a loot box system handling player progression and boosts wholesale according to the preview, leading to a situation that could nurture an unhealthy online climate. Here's what the original report has to say on the matter:

"Every single technique, ability, fighter, and stat roll, is entirely acquired and upgraded through the loot box system. A brand-new player fresh out of the tutorials, can dump $1,000 into the game, acquire the rarest loot drops and immediately jump into online competition with a beastly custom fighter that has an exceedingly large health pool, vastly improved endurance, and substantially stronger strikes than the average player who simply pays the $60 price of admission. The higher the rarity of the item, the more significant the improvement overall."

"Pressing the square button to throw a punch at an opponent, quite literally the simplest and most obvious mechanic in an MMA game, perfectly exemplifies the absurdity of the microtransactions in question. A base level jab will do minimal damage to online opponents, however a fighter that purchases a loot box and acquires a five-star rarity level jab, will not only have a more efficient and powerful technique in combat, but will also be treated to a host of stat increases in all regards, making their player undeniably better in every scenario."

It's clear that the writer of the report is concerned about the creep of microtransactions into gaming, however, most of what was described was present in Ultimate Team mode in UFC 2. No one would argue against the fact that EA's highly profitable Ultimate Team mode offers a pay-to-win model, that is if two evenly matched opponents faced off the one who spent the most cash would win a majority of the matches played. However, since this doesn't extend beyond the mode in question, most people seem to be able to live with it. The question is, then, will they continue to feel the same way now that the practice has been highlighted elsewhere, most notably in Battlefront II?