The reality is that EA will move on from this pretty much unscathed. The vast majority of gamers are casual and don't get keep up with this type of drama, and as history has shown there are plenty willing to pay for microtransactions.
And EA is really just following general industry trends, not really setting them. In the latest earnings call Take Two has basically confirmed that microtransactions will be in every title going forward:
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick brought them up in a call to investors yesterday. It’s a roundabout way of saying “microtransactions” and Take-Two, the parent company of 2K Games, 2K Sports and Rockstar Games, is prioritizing development that integrates them into the overall game.
That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Zelnick yesterday boasted that they account for 42 percent of the company’s revenue over the most recent quarter.
“We've said that we aim to have recurrent consumer spending opportunities for every title that we put out at this company
Activision uses its matchmaking system to exploit microtransaction, pairing you with stronger opponents to tempt players to buy microtransaction items that improve your character then pairing you with weaker opponents so you feel a sense of reward inforcement (and your opponent himself feels a desire to pay for microtransaction items).
For the once beloved Rockstar, their focus is now on microtransactions after earnings billion with them on GTA V Online:
Right now our focus is on GTA Online which has exceeded our expectations. We currently have all key members of the team that launched Grand Theft Auto V focused on supporting GTA Online in every capacity.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/09/10/how-gta-online-has-changed-rockstar-north