News

EA stock drops 3% thanks to The Old Republic worries
Posted: 20.01.2012 05:49 by JonahFalcon Comments: 4
Brean Murray Carret & Co has told its investors that there were "creeping concerns" over the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, which caused them to sell stock in the company.


Analyst Todd Mitchell stated, "Specifically, initial sales appear to be below expectations, and casual observation of early play is causing us to rethink our churn assumptions,” and that the MMO wouldn't live up to expectations. The stock dropped almost 3% to $17.75 a share.

Despite this, Electronic Arts and BioWare have expressed satisfaction with the MMO. It'll be interesting to see how many subscribers stick with it now that their free month has expired, and they will have to start paying their monthly subscription fees.

Star Wars: The Old Republic was released on the 20th December, and earned a 9.0/10 score in Strategy Informer's review.
Source: VG247

Comments

By SirRoderick (SI Elite) on Jan 20, 2012
SirRoderick
Sales below expectations? Over one million copies were sold within the week, almost two million within three weeks. I'd say that's expecting quite a bit! That's 120 million dollars turnover right there, without any subscription fees. It is the fastest growing subscription MMO ever!

Also "casual observation"? What the hell does that mean? Anything in particular that worries them or just a vague assumption based on browing a forum...of a game...an MMO game...of Star Wars...yes it's full of trolls as per usual, I hope they didn't base this on that.

I don't want to come of as a blatant fanboy here, it's just that it seems a bit rash and almost sounds like a pretext. Unless they have some other information.
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Jan 20, 2012
nocutius
Perhaps they simply expected the growth to be even more rapid?
It's not so much about what we think is good enough sales it's about what they expected/promised. If they expected the turnover you mentioned to be 180m instead of 120m that is obviously failing (their) expectations.

A single drop of 3% is hardly anything to talk about, if it happens a second time in a row then maybe i'd start worrying just a little bit, if i had their shares that is.

And i would not call 50€ free :).
By SirRoderick (SI Elite) on Jan 20, 2012
SirRoderick
€55 actually. :)

Well all I'll say on the economic is that expecting any new product to do vastly better than the previous best is seriously optimistic. They already broke the top barrier, expecting anything more is just...you cannot base a bussiness plan on that sort of projection is what I'm saying.
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Jan 21, 2012
herodotus
In Australia they're selling the US import copy in Retail Stores for $78 (no free 1 month) and it's selling well indeed. The domestic version is set for March but the retailers just could not wait, and neither could the gamers.
Very bad marketing, EA and I truly wish that noone had bought the Import version to teach them a valuable lesson. As it is though, the gamer, not being the smartest cookie in the fat jar will probably buy both versions here. $80 for a MMO (ie. a WiP) is ludicrously expensive.