Everybody is really excited that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order isn’t evil

Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment announced Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on Saturday. It’s a single player action game centered on the story of a Jedi apprentice named Cal Kestis after the events of Revenge of the Sith, when the newly seated Emperor is purging the galaxy of his enemies. It’s a bad time to be a padawan still struggling with basic stuff like lifting rocks.

The news that has everybody buzzing is that EA has committed to not having microtransactions or loot boxes in Fallen Order. It’s like The New Republic after the evil Empire of Battlefront II. No crazy revenue scheme? What’s going on? Will there be a First Order Starkiller base of a season pass hiding somewhere? Whatever the plan, it’s amazing to see such a basic promise celebrated. Tell people “we won’t cripple this game with horrible free-to-play mechanics” and they dance in the streets as if this wasn’t the norm for decades before. “Let the past die,” seems appropriate.