The Force Abandons Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic was arguably the most anticipated MMORPG game releases of 2011, and to begin with, it appeared that Bioware had actually created a title with a chance to threaten World of Warcraft’s massive army of 10 million active subscribers. Backed by a huge $200 million budget, Star Wars: The Old Republic boasted a variety of new ground-breaking features that were expected to blow the MMO genre apart. Sadly, the majority of these features failed to deliver on what was promised and it’s starting to show as Star Wars: The Old Republic subscribers abandon the game in droves.
Two months after launched Electronic Arts released figures on the games subscription base which then stood at an impressive 1.7 million subscribers, with each paying roughly $15 per month. You don’t have to be a math genius to compared the original budget with the current income, and it doesn’t look too good. The latest report from EA has confirmed reports from many skeptics that the subscriber base is dwindling, and it’s now at an estimated 1.3 million subscribers.
Anyone with any real MMORPG experience will tell you, every single MMO suffers a drastic drop in subscribers within 6 months of launch. The hype surrounding Star Wars: The Old Republic was huge, it was covered on every gaming site and even featured in many TV and billboard advertising campaigns. Fueling a game with so much hype was obviously going to create a lot of interest and in the first 6 months players were able to enjoy Star Wars: The Old Republic’s most exciting features, only to be smashed in the face with a total lack of end-game content and lackluster PvP.
So what are your thoughts? Do these recent figures really spell doom for Star Wars: The Old Republic or is this just another case of people wanting another MMO sob story? Leave a comment and let us know!
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