The alleged marketing plan emerged when Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin called out EA for trying to pay him to say positive things about Star Wars: Battlefront. 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, “They wanted to pay me to post that I like this peice of s*** game. They can shove it up their ass this game sucks I’d rather watch the god awful prequels then play this peice of s*** one more second that’s for ruining Star Wars EA :)”
Abdul Haddi of GamerSiege was the first to break the story before it was picked up by other media outlets. Haddi has noted that it’s very common for publishers to seek celebrity endorsements as way to promote their games.
Burnley is the only celebrity to have gone public about EA trying to buy endorsements at the moment. No celebrity has come forward about being paid or have posted anything positive about Star Wars: Battlefront. Meanwhile, EA has not confirmed nor denied that it is paying celebrities for their endorsement.
Star Wars: Battlefront is a reboot of the iconic game series and EA’s first Star Wars game under an agreement with The Walt Disney Company. The games were action shooters that recreated memorable moments from the films.
It has received mostly mediocre scores from game critics along with gamers. While the gameplay and graphics have been praised, its lack of content along with $60 price tag has been criticized.
