EA's 'sense of pride' comment becomes Reddit's most downvoted ever

Electronic Arts (EA)

What happened

EA's official account defended the harsh in-game unlock costs and loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront II by saying they gave players "a sense of pride and accomplishment." The tone-deaf reply was downvoted to roughly -667,000, making it the most downvoted comment in Reddit history, and fed a backlash that drew regulatory scrutiny of loot boxes and forced EA to drastically cut unlock costs within days.

The lesson

Never respond to a monetization backlash with corporate spin that dismisses the complaint; acknowledge the problem plainly or say nothing until you have a real fix.