It's a bit of a frenzy right now following the annoucement and the continuing drop in EA's share price.
As I said before, don't expect any more content for SWTOR, they're "reassigning" some of the team and firing the rest, the game is going the same way as Warhammer Online:
SWTOR = "maintenance mode" from here on.
Just for your amusement, you can see what's going on with the official forums, quite an interesting story in itself:
Bioware/EA viral marketing department is in panic mode.
Check out the sheer number of EA paid shills on this thread in the SWTOR official forum. It is mind-boggling.
They banned all the constructive critics and anyone who said anything negative, now their threads are just pages of shills discussing back and forth with fanboys, backed up by their corrupt fascist moderators who are "editing" threads to make them look better, all desperately trying to make the game look as if it's not completely dead already.
Their new story: it was the bad community that killed SWTOR.
That's right, they're blaming the players for SWTOR's problems, in order to deflect the blame from their **** devs who made a **** game!
Nice spin, blame the community that tried to fix the game by providing feedback and solutions - and got banned for it, and don't blame the terrible clueless lead developers who destroyed the game with terrible decisions, 1.2 class balance, no merges because "it would look bad" etc etc etc.
My fault, I thought you meant the link in the OP, so yes, I most definitely missed that! My understanding for the free month was that it was to any 50 or any legacy level 6 who was under subscription as of a certain date OR who resubbed by a certain date, and for those that resubbed they would tack on the extra 30 days at the end of their paid month. This is the offer I received at least. I didn't take them up on it, but you didn't just "get it automatically" you had to already be subbed or be willing to resub. So it would make sense that it would be close to the same amount of subs before the promo than after. Maybe some who hadn't had a sub would be swayed at the prospect of getting a free month for resubbing, but I have a feeling more were like me and passed believing that there just wasn't 2 months worth of additional content.
Personally, 1.3 million as of March 31 is still pretty good
Uh, no. Not when you sold 2.3 million copies total
So SWTOR lost 1 million subs AND STILL hasn't merged server.
That's all that can be said about the business mantality of EA.
And yes, the free month was included. The report was from the end of April
What 1.3 million isn't a decent sub base? What?
Because for example that 1.3 goes down to say 1 mill, and then so on.
That's good for money but that's even if 1.3 are literally playing still, and some bought 6 month cards or something.
Though IMO number wise that's good but [direction] wise it isn't.
If it's like steady 1.3 from here on out then that should be good.
Least that's what is happening so far.
That and 2.3 to 1.3 in 3 months is quite a lost. Even 2.0 to 1.3 because that means they going down not up.
What MMO since WOW hasn't lost a number of subs within the first few months? It's a well known trend that many more will buy an MMO these days than those who actually stick around. AS for 6 month subs, those numbers are neither here nor there, we don't know them.
Where they stop bleeding who knows, but I'm sorry 1.3 mil however you slice it is a decent number for those still around. I liked the game and I could barely make it past january.
Multiplying 1 mil by 15 a month, for 3 months is 45,000,000 and they have had more subs than that, that's not even including 2mil units sold at varying prices starting at $60. That's a crap ton of money in the first few months. For the health of the service that's pretty darn good.
That's a good question, I must ask though what MMO after WoW went upwards after the first few months?
1.3 is a good number, but like I said good number but not direction.
I believed Aion at a point in time had 1 mill subs and few others hit it, didn't Warhammer it that or was it 800K?
Number is good, direction isn't no matter the slice unfortunately.
I don't know it might be the fact I don't look at now moments in many things, I do considered I.E like for example GW2 cash shop isn't p2w nor looks to be p2w. The possibility is still there though, but you know to call it p2w [now] is absurd.
So 1.3 subs is good as of right now, but the direction if it keeps going isn't. I believe that's what people are getting at, I hope people don't think 1.3 is a bad number though.
I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.
I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.
P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)
Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.
Considering they just lost about 20 million by giving EVERYONE a free month I would say EA isn't very happy right now.
Let's also not forget that they included that free month in these numbers. Diablo 3 comes out on the 15th, Guild Wars 2 following that.... It doesn't look too good for Bioware right now.
And let's be honest.... Warhammer made a profit....
Oh also, you're not taking into considering the cost of continued development and advertising so... Yeah...
Yeah obviously whatever slip-up required a free month wouldn't make EA happy. But even with that, unless they haven't ramped down their team to Live Mode, there's no chance they haven't broke even unless there's some insane ad budget going on (which may be...the ad spend probably wasn't included in the $200mm value.)
And yeah, WAR was also profitable.
I just like pointing out when games are profitable so that crazy, uninformed players (not you) are a tiny bit less likely to make uninformed statements in the future.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
1.3 million subs and how much is it to pay for a month? It's expected for some games to loose subs after a while, especially when they can't live up to the hype. Think about how much money they made from box sales and how much money they still will be making a month and see if any of this is important. Hell, 500k subs at what 10-15 bucks a month is still good. they made back their overall investement and then some, and will profit. You invest little so that your margin of profit will always be larger. They pumped out a crud game and people feel had. It's called the American market.
Dude, fucking Warhammer is "maintaining" with 2000 subscribers, if that.
Still running doesn't always mean not dead.
And I think it's funny that the attitude toward SWTOR went like this
SWTOR is announced: "WoW KILLER!"
December 2011: "It's still growing!"
One month laster: "Well it's stable"
Now: "T-they can s-still maintain with 1.3 million!"
Why are you getting so angry?
Because this is a very importent time for gaming. With indie developers showing up like crazy, we finally have a chance to have a world without companies like EA. But for every blind fanboy who gives them money, were one more person away from seeing them purged
Remember Rift's "trial servers"? this is even better.
Poor investors... they are eating outright lies and they probably don't have a clue of whats really happening.
"Esport with tournaments is for hardcore pvp'rs that want to be competitive. Openworld PVP with ganking and griefing is for casuals that just wants their pvp mixed with pve from time to time." otacu
Because this is a very importent time for gaming. With indie developers showing up like crazy, we finally have a chance to have a world without companies like EA. But for every blind fanboy who gives them money, were one more person away from seeing them purged
So you're getting angry at someone not giving them money?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Considering they just lost about 20 million by giving EVERYONE a free month I would say EA isn't very happy right now.
Let's also not forget that they included that free month in these numbers. Diablo 3 comes out on the 15th, Guild Wars 2 following that.... It doesn't look too good for Bioware right now.
And let's be honest.... Warhammer made a profit....
Oh also, you're not taking into considering the cost of continued development and advertising so... Yeah...
Yeah obviously whatever slip-up required a free month wouldn't make EA happy. But even with that, unless they haven't ramped down their team to Live Mode, there's no chance they haven't broke even unless there's some insane ad budget going on (which may be...the ad spend probably wasn't included in the $200mm value.)
And yeah, WAR was also profitable.
I just like pointing out when games are profitable so that crazy, uninformed players (not you) are a tiny bit less likely to make uninformed statements in the future.
This game is nowhere near profitable atm,maybe years end,but not now.To think it is show's who's uninformed amirite?They may have about 120 mill back right now.People seem to think a $60 box sale = $60 to EA/Bio and it's lucky to be half that.Or should I say 1/10 to you Axe?
Because this is a very importent time for gaming. With indie developers showing up like crazy, we finally have a chance to have a world without companies like EA. But for every blind fanboy who gives them money, were one more person away from seeing them purged
So you're getting angry at someone not giving them money?
"[But] anything north of 1 million subscribers is a very profitable business."
Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s extended development cycle doesn’t seem to have had an impact on EA’s profit expectations; the MMO is still expected to be in the green should it reach only 500,000 subscribers, the publisher has reiterated.
At 1 million subscribers it would be “a business that makes good money on an on-going basis” CEO John Riccitiello said during the company’s earnings call yesterday.
Anything above 1 million, however, and it’ll start to look like “a great investment.”
This game is nowhere near profitable atm,maybe years end,but not now.To think it is show's who's uninformed amirite?They may have about 120 mill back right now.People seem to think a $60 box sale = $60 to EA/Bio and it's lucky to be half that.Or should I say 1/10?
They pretty much made their money back from their box sales.
Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s extended development cycle doesn’t seem to have had an impact on EA’s profit expectations; the MMO is still expected to be in the green should it reach only 500,000 subscribers, the publisher has reiterated.
At 1 million subscribers it would be “a business that makes good money on an on-going basis” CEO John Riccitiello said during the company’s earnings call yesterday.
Anything above 1 million, however, and it’ll start to look like “a great investment.”
Because this is a very importent time for gaming. With indie developers showing up like crazy, we finally have a chance to have a world without companies like EA. But for every blind fanboy who gives them money, were one more person away from seeing them purged
So just the numerical layout for a bit of controvercy..... Bioware/EA claims 1.3 million subs across 215 servers worldwide.... That is roughly 6050 accounts per server.... Where are all these people. Seems kinda odd that most independant studies place server populations between 400 - 800 on low pop servers, 800 - 1300 people on average servers, and 1500 - 2000 on high population servers like The Fatman.
Because this is a very importent time for gaming. With indie developers showing up like crazy, we finally have a chance to have a world without companies like EA. But for every blind fanboy who gives them money, were one more person away from seeing them purged
So just the numerical layout for a bit of controvercy..... Bioware/EA claims 1.3 million subs across 215 servers worldwide.... That is roughly 6050 accounts per server.... Where are all these people. Seems kinda odd that most independant studies place server populations between 400 - 800 on low pop servers, 800 - 1300 people on average servers, and 1500 - 2000 on high population servers like The Fatman.
"[But] anything north of 1 million subscribers is a very profitable business."
Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s extended development cycle doesn’t seem to have had an impact on EA’s profit expectations; the MMO is still expected to be in the green should it reach only 500,000 subscribers, the publisher has reiterated.
At 1 million subscribers it would be “a business that makes good money on an on-going basis” CEO John Riccitiello said during the company’s earnings call yesterday.
Anything above 1 million, however, and it’ll start to look like “a great investment.”
If they continue to lose about 23.5% of their subs per quarter, the game is going to drop under 500k sometime during Q1 2013. That's assuming it doesn't drop significant amounts when the 3 month and 6 month subscriptions finally expire.
I suppose it's possible that sub numbers stabilize and even go up. Of course, it's also possible that Earth will experience world peace in the near future... "possible" doesn't mean either are likely.
Comments
Not sure what that dude was bitching about.
EvE online
Guild Wars 1
Planetside...
You seem to be proving our point that WoWclones will always fail by either:
A) Not living up to expectation
or
Wrong again.
My fault, I thought you meant the link in the OP, so yes, I most definitely missed that! My understanding for the free month was that it was to any 50 or any legacy level 6 who was under subscription as of a certain date OR who resubbed by a certain date, and for those that resubbed they would tack on the extra 30 days at the end of their paid month. This is the offer I received at least. I didn't take them up on it, but you didn't just "get it automatically" you had to already be subbed or be willing to resub. So it would make sense that it would be close to the same amount of subs before the promo than after. Maybe some who hadn't had a sub would be swayed at the prospect of getting a free month for resubbing, but I have a feeling more were like me and passed believing that there just wasn't 2 months worth of additional content.
Dude, fucking Warhammer is "maintaining" with 2000 subscribers, if that.
Still running doesn't always mean not dead.
And I think it's funny that the attitude toward SWTOR went like this
SWTOR is announced: "WoW KILLER!"
December 2011: "It's still growing!"
One month laster: "Well it's stable"
Now: "T-they can s-still maintain with 1.3 million!"
That's a good question, I must ask though what MMO after WoW went upwards after the first few months?
1.3 is a good number, but like I said good number but not direction.
I believed Aion at a point in time had 1 mill subs and few others hit it, didn't Warhammer it that or was it 800K?
Number is good, direction isn't no matter the slice unfortunately.
I don't know it might be the fact I don't look at now moments in many things, I do considered I.E like for example GW2 cash shop isn't p2w nor looks to be p2w. The possibility is still there though, but you know to call it p2w [now] is absurd.
So 1.3 subs is good as of right now, but the direction if it keeps going isn't. I believe that's what people are getting at, I hope people don't think 1.3 is a bad number though.
I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.
I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.
P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)
Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.
Why are you getting so angry?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Yeah obviously whatever slip-up required a free month wouldn't make EA happy. But even with that, unless they haven't ramped down their team to Live Mode, there's no chance they haven't broke even unless there's some insane ad budget going on (which may be...the ad spend probably wasn't included in the $200mm value.)
And yeah, WAR was also profitable.
I just like pointing out when games are profitable so that crazy, uninformed players (not you) are a tiny bit less likely to make uninformed statements in the future.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
1.3 million subs and how much is it to pay for a month? It's expected for some games to loose subs after a while, especially when they can't live up to the hype. Think about how much money they made from box sales and how much money they still will be making a month and see if any of this is important. Hell, 500k subs at what 10-15 bucks a month is still good. they made back their overall investement and then some, and will profit. You invest little so that your margin of profit will always be larger. They pumped out a crud game and people feel had. It's called the American market.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/star-wars-the-old-republic-needs-only-500k-subscribers-ea-6297338
"[But] anything north of 1 million subscribers is a very profitable business."
EVE is from 2002 before WOW, planetside 03, GW1 no subs....
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Because this is a very importent time for gaming. With indie developers showing up like crazy, we finally have a chance to have a world without companies like EA. But for every blind fanboy who gives them money, were one more person away from seeing them purged
I always heard that SW doesn't sell well in asian, but that just what I heard.
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.
More like 500k subs.
That free month give away is the mother of al PRs
Remember Rift's "trial servers"? this is even better.
Poor investors... they are eating outright lies and they probably don't have a clue of whats really happening.
"Esport with tournaments is for hardcore pvp'rs that want to be competitive. Openworld PVP with ganking and griefing is for casuals that just wants their pvp mixed with pve from time to time."
otacu
So you're getting angry at someone not giving them money?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
This game is nowhere near profitable atm,maybe years end,but not now.To think it is show's who's uninformed amirite?They may have about 120 mill back right now.People seem to think a $60 box sale = $60 to EA/Bio and it's lucky to be half that.Or should I say 1/10 to you Axe?
I'm not angry at you though....
Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s extended development cycle doesn’t seem to have had an impact on EA’s profit expectations; the MMO is still expected to be in the green should it reach only 500,000 subscribers, the publisher has reiterated.
At 1 million subscribers it would be “a business that makes good money on an on-going basis” CEO John Riccitiello said during the company’s earnings call yesterday.
Anything above 1 million, however, and it’ll start to look like “a great investment.”
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2011/07/27/swtor-profitable-at-500k-subs-a-great-investment-at-1-million/
They pretty much made their money back from their box sales.
Yeah.... Thanks?
How does EA affect the indi-development?
So just the numerical layout for a bit of controvercy..... Bioware/EA claims 1.3 million subs across 215 servers worldwide.... That is roughly 6050 accounts per server.... Where are all these people. Seems kinda odd that most independant studies place server populations between 400 - 800 on low pop servers, 800 - 1300 people on average servers, and 1500 - 2000 on high population servers like The Fatman.
By buying those companies and then gutting them
Lol, "independant studies".
If they continue to lose about 23.5% of their subs per quarter, the game is going to drop under 500k sometime during Q1 2013. That's assuming it doesn't drop significant amounts when the 3 month and 6 month subscriptions finally expire.
I suppose it's possible that sub numbers stabilize and even go up. Of course, it's also possible that Earth will experience world peace in the near future... "possible" doesn't mean either are likely.