The alleged marketing plan emerged when Benjamin Burnley, founder and frontman of Breaking Benjamin, called out EA for trying to pay him to say positive things about Star Wars: Battlefront, via social media on November 21. He posted a picture of a broken copy of the game on Instagram along with a comment denouncing EA for trying to buy his endorsement.
Burnley stated in the comment,
Abdul Haddi of GamerSiege was the first to break the story on November 21 before it was picked up by other media outlets. Haddi has noted that its very common for publishers to seek celebrity endorsements as way to promote their games.
News of the alleged marketing tactic has already caused outrage among gamers who feel EA should have been more focused on making a quality game or lowered the game’s sale price while others expressed their frustration at the publisher. Most of the criticism could easily be viewed on community message boards and aggregate sites like N4G.
Currently, Star Wars: Battlefront has received mostly mediocre scores from game critics as well as gamers. While the gameplay and graphics have been praised, its lack of content along with $60 price tag has been criticized.
Burnley is the only celebrity to have gone public about EA trying to buy endorsements at the moment. No other celebrity has come forward about being paid or have posted anything positive about Star Wars: Battlefront. Meanwhile, EA has not confirmed nor denied that they are paying celebrities for their endorsement.
Star Wars: Battlefront is a reboot the iconic game series and EA’s first Star Wars game under an agreement with The Walt Disney Company. The game is a massive multiplayer shooter that allows players to experiences several of the most memorable moments from the film.
