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The Old Republic Only Needs 500k Subscribers For Profitability

News

by Adam Biessener on February 02, 2011 at 11:33 AM

8,246 Views

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello reassured investors in clear terms on a conference call yesterday. "At half a million subscribers, the game is substantially profitable," he said of BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMORPG.

This runs counter to speculation floating around the 'Net in recent months. EA chief financial officer Scott Brown said that The Old Republic was "the largest R&D project EA has ever undertaken" earlier last year, which fueled wild guesses about the game's development cost and sales targets. Rival MMO developer Bigpoint's CEO Heiko Hubertz said, "I don't think that EA or BioWare will be profitable with this game. Ever."

While Riccitiello didn't specify the time commitment required for half a million subscribers to make SW:TOR turn a profit, that seems like a very achievable number for the highest-profile MMO since World of Warcraft – which had 12 million subscribers as of last October. Riccitiello added, "Anything north of a million subscribers, it's a very profitable business."

So long as EA's CEO isn't putting Rafael Nadal levels of spin on these comments – and doing so on a public financial conference call can have significant repercussions – the future is much brighter for EA, BioWare, LucasArts, and Star Wars fans than many had previously feared.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is scheduled to come out this spring, though EA has yet to commit to anything beyond "before the end of 2011."

[via Gamasutra]

Email the author Adam Biessener, or follow on Twitter, and Game Informer.

Filed under: News, PC, EA, Electronic Arts, MMO, LucasArts, BioWare, Star Wars, John Riccitiello, financials, the old republic, mmorpg, pc games, overconfidence is your weakness, rafael nadal, profitability

Comments

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by linktriforce...ridin in the roflcopter Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:12 PM

i think thats definitely possible. We know theres at least 12 million pc gamers that play mmos.
by eyros2k Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:14 PM

Sounds like an exceedingly easy landmark for a Bioware game to hit... forget the easy sales to the Star Wars loyal
by KILLER Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:16 PM

Didn't Vigil and THQ say the same thing about W40k: Dark Millennium Online needing only 500k Subscribers too?
by Dogfonos Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:16 PM

500k? That'll be nothing for having the two biggest names in the gaming industry working in sync: BioWare and Star Wars.
by Him Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:18 PM

BioWare's going to be rich.
by Williamon Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:23 PM

BioWare, you're gonna make a fortune. This could be the next WoW, for all we know! Then again, it could also be the next ABP...
by slickvicXLII Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:27 PM

I'm sure that'll happen within a few hours.
by Agile1 Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:30 PM

500k fans. At what price and for how long?
by Palor Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:36 PM

something is missing from this statesmen. How many months do they need of 500k subscribers before they make a profit? Even so unless they really mess this game up I will be there on day one.
by Zecks Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:36 PM

I hope they do a ps3 port a la DC Universe.
by FreaKish Chaos Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:39 PM

I don't think they'll have any problems. I have yet to see a Bioware title that wasn't met with success.
by Ryan Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:42 PM

I hoping to be one of those 500k
by Steve the Random Comment Guy Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 12:58 PM

its possible
by Felix Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 01:01 PM

The number of subscribers is only one variable. You have to factor in how much they're paying in subscription costs, how much they're paying (on average) on micro transactions, and for how long are they subscribed for. That's just on the revenue end. The costs end can fluctuate wildly too: how often are updates going to come, how often are there going to be expansions (will there be any expansions?), are there IP licensing issues between BioWare/EA and Lucasarts? The list goes on. In the past 500k subscribers tends to allow an MMO to survive... but then again TOR is supposedly the most expensive MMO (and by extension, video game) ever made.
by Bbrainss Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 01:04 PM

Hope they do well and the game does well. MMO's are ridiculously hard to get right, but I'm sure Bioware can do it.
by notagrape Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 01:14 PM

I'm kind of afraid, although I hope I'm wrong, that this game has already been undone by a self-fulfilling prophecy. Gamers have the most bipolar love-hate relationship with BioWare games and with MMO's. They'll buy up both of them (well, the BioWare games anyway, and at least some MMO's) but, even by the video game community's standards, every new announcement is met with the most bitterly crippling cynicism, and total failure is forecast the moment the game is announced. Put both of these things together, and you've got countless video game forum-goers filled with the most inexplicably zealous hatred toward the fact that a game like this would even have the nerve to exist. Nearly everyone is convinced that this game is destined to completely and utterly fail, and this time that belief might very well be strong enough to do this game in before it even comes out. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure people are going to give this game the chance to be successful.
by SamuraiZero Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 01:19 PM

I highly doubt that will be a problem. The question is how long do they have to subscribe.
by Another Matthew Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 01:20 PM

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDAMN!Thats a big risk but it could happen.
Mod

by DStubbs Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 01:58 PM

They'll get that easily. They won't reach WoW numbers by any means but it'll be a hit
by David Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 02:00 PM

Walk in the park.

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The Old Republic Only Needs 500k Subscribers For Profitability

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