[UPDATE]

Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan has confirmed the report that Electronic Arts fired him over refusing to implement pay-to-win microtransactions.

His statement:

Regarding recent rumors, it is true I was laid off by EA/PopCap, and also true that I was against making PvZ2 a freemium game. That’s all I’ll say on the matter for now

Developing.

[ORIGINAL STORY]

Following the pay-to-win microtransactions debacle between Electronic Arts and Star Wars Battlefront II, we’ve learned that EA is possibly thirstier for profits beyond what we ever imagined.

A new report comes via The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen (via the Roundtable Podcast), who claims EA fired the creator of Plants vs. Zombies because he refused to go all-in with pay-to-win microtransactions.

McMillen notes that George Fan, the aforementioned Plants vs. Zombies creator, was let go from the company and the franchise he created prior to their acquisition from EA years ago because he rejected the new development model proposed.

Reportedly, when EA proposed the sequel Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time and its pay-to-win model with in-app purchasing, Fan refused.

“He’s like ‘I dunno, that’s not really a good idea and I don’t want to do that with my game,'” McMillen recalled.

McMillen noted that Fan was immediately terminated after his objections with the game. “This is such a newsworthy thing and it’s frustrated me for years that there aren’t news stories about this,” McMillen said.

“It was personal,” McMillen said. “Knowing the guy, I can see the characters a personal. Every little piece was something from him. It was his baby.”

Fan is reportedly preparing a brief statement that we’ll report on – we’ll keep you guys posted.