BioWare: Old Republic's Free-to-Play Success Is Uncertain

[Fanghawk]

BioWare: Old Republic's Free-to-Play Success Is Uncertain

BioWare Austin can't guarantee that Old Republic's hybrid model will earn more money.

Last year, Star Wars: The Old Republic was in a prime position <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/view-from-the-road/7005-Five-Reasons-Why-The-Old-Republic-Is-a-Threat-to-WoW>to knock World of Warcraft down a peg or two. We know now that this wouldn't be the case, but even in hindsight it's hard to find people <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117133-The-Old-Republic-Population-Shrinking>who expected the game would fail so quickly. Now with subscription numbers plummeting, BioWare has been hard at work adapting the game to a free-to-play system in the hopes that it changes the title's prospects, as was the case <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112212-Free-to-Play-Age-of-Conan-Doubles-Revenues>for other faltering MMOs. But BioWare's Matt Bromberg is taking a more cautious approach, noting that while he certainly hopes more people come to The Old Republic through the free-to-play model, that doesn't necessarily guarantee success.

"I don't know," Bromberg answered when asked by CVG whether he thought The Old Republic could make more money using free-to-play. "Obviously we are a business and we have to grow that business, but my primary intention is to make as many people play this beautiful game that we've made. It just so happens that the business will naturally grow as more people come to play the game, but we're not trying to squeeze every single penny out of it."

Considering the hype Old Republic generated that failed to materialize six months later, Bromberg's comments are understandably pragmatic and cautious. Despite it all, the BioWare Austin executive isn't entirely convinced that the failures of subscription-based games like The Old Republic means free-to-play markets are now the answer. "A lot of other games that have moved from subscription to hybrid haven't lost as many customers as you might think, in fact a lot of them have gained subscribers," he noted. "I think it's different for every game. In general it appears that most MMOs are moving in the free-to-play direction, but I still think there's an opportunity still for some more specialist MMOs."

Some of Bromberg's hesitation to break fully from subscription models is understandable. BioWare spent years crafting what they thought would be a hugely successful subscription-based game, and are now being forced to rethink its entire monetization model half a year after release. Still, even World of Warcraft, the most successful subscription-based game on the market, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111348-WoW-Goes-Free-Forever-Except-Not>has adopted a partial free-to-play model to attract new players. If WoW needs to change the way it operates in today's industry, even slightly, it's hard to imagine that any newcomer could operate fully on a paid model.

Source: CVG, via <a href=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-08-30-bioware-gm-unsure-if-free-to-play-will-save-old-republic>Games Industry International

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[Meight08]

Big budget mmo's don't work anymore but smaller niche ones do, Just look at EVE, perpetuum online, Hell even planetside 1 survived on subscription because of the dedicated following. Those games survive because of the dedicated hardcore fans who will keep paying and playing.

 

[yuval152]

I'mma download it, play it and won't buy anything cause imma filthy pirate /ubisoft logic.

OT: I will be trying this for sure, looks like fun.

 

[tmande2nd]

I will not by playing it again sadly.

Dont get me wrong, the stories were fun just no I dont like MMOs

 

[Ickabod]

The very fun to play GW2 probably isn't going to help either.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

I'll still be trying the F2P model when it eventually comes out.

The SW story + lightsabers are infinitely more appealing to me than the innumerable Fantasa Generica MMOs that are still being churned out(and yes, that includes GW2, at least in terms of setting and art style).

 

[VoidWanderer]

I think they tried to grab too much of a 'good thing'. The good/fun storylines and the interesting companions were great and all, but it felt way too much like I was playing a bastard version of KOTOR 3 at the same time as other people.

And I would've preferred if they went with their other proposal of setting it after episode VI. It would reach a wider audience, it could go into some very interesting places, and I would've probably stuck with it for longer.

And since I know/fear that EA's viral marketing department trolls forums for 'good ideas'.

THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!!

 

[fix-the-spade]

I can think of two reasons ToR is doomed.

1) It's just WoW in a Star Wars dress, until developers get the message that we already have WoW new 'big' MMO's will always fail. The should have made a Galaxies clone or a fleet based game, I would have paid for giant space battles.

2) The dancing, banning people over dancing to avoid damage against AIs. That is low, it should have been left in because it was awesome. Yet EA evidently have no sense of humour.

Ah well, bye bye The Old Republic.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

When I was playing TOR I actually quite enjoyed "the game", what I didn't enjoy was the constant reminders that I was playing an MMO i.e. all the frigging skinner box stuff. I got really sick of all the carrot on a stick crap and just wanted to advance the damn story already. This was made worse when you realize just how annoyingly huge and time-wastey a lot of the areas were (the massive docking bays, the star ports, the huge towns/cities).

Also they should have started the frigging launch with server transfers, nothing more annoying than wanting to start playing, getting past the starter area and realizing that you and your friends are scattered across like 30 different servers.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I may try again but I doubt it. I had a subscription for about 4 months. I played through the Jedi story lines, started a smuggler and while I liked the story I just could not do the same side quests for a third time. And none of the end game content is fun. To me anyway.

I tried to play a Sith but I could not do it. I was fine on Korriban, being a evil douche screwing over other evil douche's but once I killed my first jedi, a 18-19 year old padawan protecting an old man, I just felt like too much of a prick. I can never manage to be the bad guy.

 

[Bluerage]

When EA decided to destroy the value of their IP by lowering prices, I jumped on board. I've been very impressed with it so far, and not entirely sure where all the negativity comes from. There was a time when blizzard struggled with WoW, and there was nothing to do once you hit the level cap. BioWare was planning on a lot more money, and with that alot more staff. The absence of both has caused them to default on promised improvements, but given the circumstances it's really out of their hands and I can't hold it against them.

As for the success of swtor as a ftp, I am very doubtful. They've made a great intro to what could be a amazing game, but I don't think they have a grasp on the business model necessary to thrive with less money, let alone nearly zero guaranteed income. Like rolfwesselius said above, their are niche markets that are very successful, but I honestly believe that the reason for the success of smaller companies is the people who work there live and breathe what they do and know what their customers want. Not exactly corporate mentality.

 

[GLo Jones]

... but even in hindsight it's hard to find people who expected the game would fail so quickly.

This might sound stupid, but that's a joke... right?

 

[Falterfire]

I'll probably try it when it goes Free To Play. I'm not surprised people balked at spending $60 for the privilege of paying $15 a month to keep playing. When Steam will sell me other AAA games for $15 or less and let me play them in perpetuity, it's hard to stomach spending $60 for a single month of play. It was inevitable that the number of people willing to pay that money for SWTOR would run out sooner rather than later.

We won't have a WoW killer. We can't. WoW players are too invested to move and a long history of 'WoW killers' dying or going F2P quickly is enough to stop (enough) other people from being willing to invest too heavily in a new MMO.

 

[Tumedus]

... but even in hindsight it's hard to find people who expected the game would fail so quickly.

This might sound stupid, but that's a joke... right?

Yeah, I am not sure where they got that. It seems like the game journalists have too much of a love affair with BW and don't see what us regular folks are seeing.

Having been in beta, the doom and gloomers were in full force at least 3 months prior to launch and have continued unabated since. Of course they were labeled "haterz" by the "fanbois" but there were definitely plenty of people who expected it to fail this badly.

 

[mxfox408]

I just recently started playing, and being a former wow player I am impressed with this game. Yeah there are alot of annoying aspects but wow also has some as well. I don't get why people compare all mmos to wow. Everquest was an MMO last I checked, wow just refined it. I do like SWTOR and I'm sad to see it is not a huge success. Bioware needs to hurry up and fix this.

 

[zachusaman]

hard to find people who expected the game would fail so quickly.

i knew it was going to fail the day it launched. a crappy WoW knockoff featuring graphics from 2003 combined with a joke of an engine and the only redeeming highlight being "hurr its got voiced quests" and throw the EA legendary customer support in for the real im living in a nazi land experience.

january called by the way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32N-43My3rs&feature=player_embedded

 

[Quiotu]

I just recently started playing, and being a former wow player I am impressed with this game. Yeah there are alot of annoying aspects but wow also has some as well. I don't get why people compare all mmos to wow. Everquest was an MMO last I checked, wow just refined it. I do like SWTOR and I'm sad to see it is not a huge success. Bioware needs to hurry up and fix this.

To be fair the game itself would be a success by any other company; the issue is that the dev price of the game was so high that it needed to grab an audience size not even WoW could initially get and hang onto it. It was an impossible scenario.

Personally I think TOR will stick around for a while, and while I don't think the FTP model will work as well for them as games specifically designed for it... they have some time to tweak it. If TOR works in the F2P market, it pretty much sets a standard that any MMO of any size will work in that market. I'm of the opinion that the game itself should never be free; there's enough content as a single player game that you could charge $20 for it and be okay.

People want to play this for the story, treat it as KOTOR 3+... well, give it to them for cheap and have people pay more for the MMO side of it. Play it online but limit groups, guilds, operative, heroics, and crafting as things you can temporarily or permanently add to the experience with funds. It's very similar to what they're planning, but I personally thing the software itself could still be sold stand-alone.

 

[thiosk]

january called by the way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32N-43My3rs&feature=player_embedded

"like dis if u&#65279; cry evry teim"

Best youtube comment in history.


I can't shake the idea that this was a if you build it they will come approach-- EA said build it, but no one ever came.

ALSO, bethesda, please take note. The Elder WoW is not necessary.

 

[subtlefuge]

Maybe it's because they made the free to play model so complicated that it's even more intimidating than paying a giant subscription fee every month.

From what I can gather, you can theoretically spend hundreds of dollars a month on cosmetic gear and still be locked out of really basic and important things like fast travel and half the pvp content. If you can't convert to a paid player without a subscription, you aren't really a free to play game.