The Old Republic Population Shrinking

[Greg Tito]

The Old Republic Population Shrinking

The report may have also let loose an unannounced content package for TOR.

When Star Wars The Old Republic launched during the holidays, there was a lot of hullabaloo over whether it could grab a significant portion of monthly subscribers. "fastest-growing MMO" in history [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/9013-Evolve-or-Die], selling 2 million copies in its first month and holding a 1.7 million population in February. But in an earnings statement released today, EA said the population here in May was 1.3 million.

For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that's a drop of half a million people. Or about as many people who live in a city the size of Las Vegas. Last we heard, World of Warcraft had some might have tried out TOR. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114124-World-of-Warcraft-Slips-Further]

In addition, the report might have leaked the name of an upcoming patch for The Old Republic. Patch 1.2 went live in April, and expanded the popular "legacy" which allowed multiple characters on the same server to share resources and a family tree, as well as earn abilities and goodies. But what is coming next for TOR?

"Two new content packs - Legacy and Allies, available in Q1," read the report. We know about Legacy, but I hadn't heard anything about Allies. An expanded guild system perhaps? More companions? I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

E3 looms.

Source: EA Earnings Release [http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ERTS/1819153208x0x566942/0a817daf-08b4-4e2d-bc35-c00d03059369/FINAL_Earnings_Release_withPressTables_1204pm_PDF.pdf]

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[Absolutionis]

I imagine EA's stock is going to tank now.
They were already struggling with the recent ill-news and the rumors of SW:TOR being shaky.
A confirmed decline is looking awful especially with Lucasarts taking 35% of TOR's profit.

I'm at least happy Guild Wars 2 is not going to have much competition now. I was worried for a moment when EA shoved TOR out the door and spammed the gaming news with those awesome FMVs.

 

[Doctor Proctor]

Meh, I like the game and I will continue to play it. To hell with the haters.

As will I...

 

[StriderShinryu]

I can't say I'm at all surprised by this. I have a couple friends who are diehard Star Wars fans, diehard Bioware fans and diehard MMO fans and yet they didn't even stick with the game for a couple of months. If the game couldn't satisfy players who are essentially the perfect audience for the it, there's something wrong.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Speaking of expensive things sinking, if any fellow Escapists live in the DC area, the Titanic exhibit in the National Geographic museum is definitely worth seeing.

 

[Sixcess]

I wonder if that 1.3 million includes all the recipients of the free month they gave away in April. My guess would be yes, it does.*

[sub]*Edit: perhaps not, as the report is up to the end of March. That said, losing 400K players in the first 3 months isn't exactly good.[/sub]

To be fair Blizzard have been gaming WoW's sub figures for years - the oft-quoted 10 million is inflated by their players in the far east, where the payment model is different.

But there's no way EA/BW can spin losing a quarter of their subscribers this quickly as a good thing. It's a pity really - any other MMO (that wasn't WoW) would be ecstatic to have these numbers. I suspect they won't be seeing it like that.

Question is: will they knuckle down and work on the game with a view to keeping the subscribers they have (and maybe winning some back) or will they start looking at microtransactions sooner rather than later to squeeze some extra bucks out of the loyalists. Well, it's EA...

 

[Bat Vader]

Meh, I like the game and I will continue to play it. To hell with the haters.

I am going to continue to play it as well. I think the game is great.

On Topic: I wonder if the allies update will allow guilds to have capital ships. That would be pretty awesome.

 

[Quiotu]

Meh, not exactly a surprise. Won't stop me for playing it for a long time, but I'm also a relatively casual player that works it a few times a week, maybe 3 if I'm in a really interesting area.

The fault is on EA for pushing this as a WoW killer, along with everyone else saying it was. There was also just way too much marketing for this game. Really, people who were interested in the game knew it was coming out; you didn't need a TOR commercial on Spike every half hour to remind everyone.

The game does well what Bioware said they were concentrating on: story, co-op, ease-of-use, PvE. End game content trickles in later, like every other MMO in existence. There's always a drop after the first few months, in every MMO made. As long as they plateau at one point, that gives them time to improve and garner more and more subscribers as they improve.

Most MMO devs would kill their firstborn to have 1.3 million subscribers after 3 or 4 months, F2P or not. Galaxies had a WAY worse drop off after release, but they still stuck around a while.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

Soon... soon...

All I want is for them to drop the subscription fee. I'd gladly buy that game if it wasn't an mmo.

 

[Imbechile]

Good, good.....

Now if only EA would shut down Bioware, then it would really be a happy day.

 

[Irridium]

Well, this is what happens when you make a game play just like WoW. Why play a game that plays like WoW, and start over, when you could just play WoW with years of accumulated stuff?

I mean, I'm enjoying the game, and will continue to play it, but it's so stupidly obvious that copying WoW =/= copying WoW's profits. The whole story aspect is new and nice, but people understandably don't play MMO's for the story. That's what I'm playing TOR for, but I'm in the minority.

Meh, I like the game and I will continue to play it. To hell with the haters.

As will I...

And my axe! Oh wait, wrong situation.

I mean yeah, me too.

 

[LiquidGrape]

While it certainly isn't positive news, it makes me laugh when people see 1.3 million active subscribers and think the game is going down the drain already.

It was launched less than six months ago. That it even has a million subscribers (in that short a time-span no less) in a field which is so thoroughly dominated by a single game, effectively draining player-base from all of its competition, is pretty damn impressive.

It's been the second largest MMO in the world since its launch. It is larger than #3 through #20 something put together.
The game isn't a failure, as much as some would like to claim it is.

 

[Nimcha]

Well I hope that 'Allies' content patch comes soon. The Legacy thing was a bit of a letdown. The raid instance, flashpoint and pvp zone were good but the rest was a bit 'meh'.

 

[Agayek]

Completely unsurprised by this. The only thing TOR does to differentiate itself from WoW (and thus, 98% of all MMOs) is the story-driven questing/leveling system. And most of the magic of that is gone after you're done leveling a character on each faction. There's just nothing really there to keep your interest at max level that isn't already done, better, elsewhere. If people want to play WoW, they're going to play WoW, not the latest clone.

While it certainly isn't positive news, it makes me laugh when people see 1.3 million active subscribers and think the game is going down the drain already.

It was launched less than six months ago. That it even has a million subscribers in a field which is so thoroughly dominated by a single game, effectively draining player-base from all of its competition, is pretty damn impressive.

It's been the second largest MMO in the world since its launch. It is larger than #3 through #20 something put together.
The game isn't a failure, as much as some would like to claim it is.

You do realize that TOR is built on the single largest (in terms of fan base and rabid interest) IP in existence right? It has a larger subscriber base than everything but its primary competitor yes, but none of those competitors are backed by almost 40 years of fandom and the hundreds of millions (if not billions after advertising is accounted for) of dollars pumped into it by EA. The fact that they only have 1.3 million subs is rather damning.

Beyond that, the fact that they lost 25% of their subscriber base in 3 months is a sign that something is wrong with the game. The biggest flaws in it are fundamental design flaws too, which means it's nigh impossible to fix without starting over again.

TOR is an excellent game, if you view it as KOTOR 3, but an utter failure as an MMO. If you enjoy it, by all means, continue to enjoy it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's fundamentally flawed.

 

[Tony2077]

i like the game and will play it till it dies which i hope won't be for a long while. hoping they shut down bioware you two must control your hatred its just an ending

 

[LiquidGrape]

You do realize that TOR is built on the single largest (in terms of fan base and rabid interest) IP in existence right? It has a larger subscriber base than everything but its primary competitor yes, but none of those competitors are backed by almost 40 years of fandom and the hundreds of millions (if not billions after advertising is accounted for) of dollars pumped into it by EA. The fact that they only have 1.3 million subs is rather damning.

Beyond that, the fact that they lost 25% of their subscriber base in 3 months is a sign that something is wrong with the game. The biggest flaws in it are fundamental design flaws too, which means it's nigh impossible to fix without starting over again.

TOR is an excellent game, if you view it as KOTOR 3, but an utter failure as an MMO. If you enjoy it, by all means, continue to enjoy it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's fundamentally flawed.

Oh, I never claimed the game was perfect. Far from it. I merely wished to point out that, in spite of what people's confirmation bias might tell them, this information isn't quite the funeral march they would like to think it is.

Indicative of issues which need addressing? Certainly.
The proverbial nail in the coffin? Nope.

P.S

Some people in here seem perversely tickled by the idea of people losing their jobs. How very sympathetic of them.

D.S

 

[antipunt]

Meh, I like the game and I will continue to play it. To hell with the haters.

As will I...

And my axe! Oh wait, wrong situation.

I mean yeah, me too.

Glad I wasn't the only one who was thinking of this...

I feel slightly less crazy

 

[hazabaza1]

So I wonder when it'll go F2P.