News

EA: The Old Republic needs 500K subscribers to turn a profit
Posted: 02.02.2011 01:21 by JonahFalcon Comments: 8
While Electronic Arts has sunk a lot of cash into the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic, they claim that they need a minimum of 500,000 subscribers to turn a profit.

EA chief financial officer Scott Brown stated, "At half a million subscribers, the game is substantially profitable, but it's not the kind of thing we would write home about. Anything north of a million subscribers, it's a very profitable business."

Brown's words are probably directed at nervous investors who have heard a lot of negative comments directed at the ambitious MMO from various sources ranging from developers to fans.

Brown took aim at news sites and bloggers that he states have inflated The Old Republic's development costs: "There's been a fair amount of talk on various blogs describing (Old Republic development) spends that are vastly higher than anything we've ever put in place. Don't read gamer blogs as having any substance. They bring a chuckle, but they also bring a frustration for those that are being responsible with the management of EA's R&D dollars."

In a less heartening note, Brown did mention that the game would be released sometime between March and the end of 2012.
Source: Gamasutra

Comments

By djole381 (SI Elite) on Feb 02, 2011
djole381
They should talk about profit when the game is actually released and there's still more than a year to go. Even then they should wait for couple of months to pass before relaxing.
By Jake_SI (SI Elite) on Feb 02, 2011
Jake_SI
Jonah, you mis-understood the release date part (or Gamasutra did, I guess). They said it would release in fiscal 2012, but still in the 2011 calendar year (as confirmed many times in the past). The likely release window is between April and July due to their previously stated target window of Spring. However, it could end up being anytime up until December.

Some other information which came out of the event, is that "beta-scale" testing will begin in the next few months.. which is good news! :)
By JonahFalcon (SI Elite) on Feb 02, 2011
JonahFalcon
The release date that was leaked was September.
By Xyfer117 (SI Core) on Feb 02, 2011
Xyfer117
If the game is good 500k players is easily achievable with the massive fan base star wars carries with it imo
By JonahFalcon (SI Elite) on Feb 02, 2011
JonahFalcon
I think it's 500K subscribers for a year.
By Xyfer117 (SI Core) on Feb 02, 2011
Xyfer117
If the game is good then the players should stay for longer than a year :P
By Jake_SI (SI Elite) on Feb 02, 2011
Jake_SI
It being released in September is just an unsubstantiated rumour however, not a proven leak from a credible source. It probably was just an attempt to gain attention (which it did) because it started speculation of development taking longer than anticipated, which always causes a bit of chaos with games of this magnitude.

It may be true of course, but at this stage I'm just going to trust in information given by BioWare and EA.. that it will release in 2011, and that they are 'targeting' Spring.
By PowerJack (SI Elite) on Feb 02, 2011
PowerJack
For Star Wars franchise 500k fans are nothing.