If six-hour lines to play the demo at PAX East didn't give you a clue, Star Wars: The Old Republic is shooting into "crazy-huge" levels of popularity these days. Even the beta for the game is hot property, as EA reported that almost 1.5 million players have signed up to be a part of the testing cycle.
EA CFO Eric Brown sees this as a terrific starting point to rule the galaxy as father and son: "It's a great indicator in the interest level in the franchise," he said.
Brown estimates that there are around 12 million potential MMO players in North America and Europe right now, a market that he hopes to widen with The Old Republic's launch. "For us it's about creating the right experience for expanding from tier 1 and the tier 2 users to getting people who have never played an MMO before, but are interested in Star Wars, to engage and give it a try," he said. "If we do that, our addressable market is well beyond 12 million people ... into more of a general gamer population, pretty much anyone that has a minimum spec personal computer."
We still have a while to go before SWTOR's launch, particularly with the recent news that there's no chance of the game launching before July 1st.
Reader Comments (24)
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:07AM FrostPaw said
People are keen to play a triple A production MMO for Free.....who woulda thought?
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 1:29PM wondersmith said
@FrostPaw
That exact same comment would sooooo fit any of Massively's articles on LotRO's success with the F2P business model. :)
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That exact same comment would sooooo fit any of Massively's articles on LotRO's success with the F2P business model. :)
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:17AM Phenomen said
look like EA want to make casual MMO like Free Realms =\
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:24AM Space Cobra said
Just the word of caution here:
Warhammer attracted/advertised it attracted 1 million folks who wanted to Beta test before launch.
The sad thing is, I signed up long ago; I don't think Warhammer sign-ups for Beta were as long ago as this (I can't remember; has it been a year or more with SWToR? I think Warhammer was only 6 months they took in Beta apps?) So, really, there should be MORE interest by now after all this time (if my foggy memory serves me right).
But, such numbers can be admittedly "throw-away": Many sign up for Betas, if they are interested or not.
So far, I have not made it into Beta myself. But, I really don't want to burn out on the game, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
Warhammer attracted/advertised it attracted 1 million folks who wanted to Beta test before launch.
The sad thing is, I signed up long ago; I don't think Warhammer sign-ups for Beta were as long ago as this (I can't remember; has it been a year or more with SWToR? I think Warhammer was only 6 months they took in Beta apps?) So, really, there should be MORE interest by now after all this time (if my foggy memory serves me right).
But, such numbers can be admittedly "throw-away": Many sign up for Betas, if they are interested or not.
So far, I have not made it into Beta myself. But, I really don't want to burn out on the game, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 11:54AM Vegetta said
@Space Cobra
Warhammer had a looooong wait. They picked people for guild beta and then didn't let them in the game until about a year later....
I signed up for TOR beta as soon as it was announced but now TBH I don't really care about the game and probably wont even bother with it if I get an invite...
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Warhammer had a looooong wait. They picked people for guild beta and then didn't let them in the game until about a year later....
I signed up for TOR beta as soon as it was announced but now TBH I don't really care about the game and probably wont even bother with it if I get an invite...
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:25PM (Unverified) said
@Space Cobra I was in the beta, game was garbage.
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Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:26AM Tizmah said
1 million sounds like the norm these days. Ooo, we have a million accounts. Ooo, we sold a million copies. That's cool and all. Nice feat. But it's common to me now, I hear it all the time.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:44AM shaneledford said
@Tizmah a million isn't cool. You know whats cool ? a billion.
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Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:40AM Itanius said
Don't get all worked up about numbers; they're just marketing gimmicks. Same thing goes for the ever-present and completely over-used term "Triple A MMO".
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 10:46AM MrGutts said
1.5 million may have signed up but only Friends and family of Bioware are still testing. Soooo 1000 maybe
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 11:22AM Space Cobra said
@MrGutts
I actually know more than that small group are testing, well, it may be labelled "Friends and Family" but I know of players not connected with Bioware that are currently in Beta at this moment via e-mail offerings.
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I actually know more than that small group are testing, well, it may be labelled "Friends and Family" but I know of players not connected with Bioware that are currently in Beta at this moment via e-mail offerings.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 11:04AM 10thDoctor said
I think it has been about 1.5 years since I signed up for Beta, if the email about my account I received back then indicative of when I signed up for beta.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 11:30AM Harley Dude said
Testing signups started Oct 09. There has been confirmed external testing going on since at least July 2010. One of the devs at PAX said that a recent test involved 2000 concurrent players. We also know that individual testers are only in certain blocks, so overall there have been a lot more than just a couple thousand people involved in the testing.
On another note, there aren't yet 1.5 million forum members, and AFAIK signing up to test requires a forum account, and it's safe to bet that there wasn't 100% sign up among the forums, so the question is, where the heck are these extra tens or even hundreds of thousands of sign ups coming from?
On another note, there aren't yet 1.5 million forum members, and AFAIK signing up to test requires a forum account, and it's safe to bet that there wasn't 100% sign up among the forums, so the question is, where the heck are these extra tens or even hundreds of thousands of sign ups coming from?
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:04PM Controlled Chaos said
@Harley Dude
Cloning techniques have apparently broken through the Star Wars fantasy/reality divide, fueled by EA's coffers. It's a diabolical scheme, really. They shall dethrone WoW through pure force of cloned numbers.
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Cloning techniques have apparently broken through the Star Wars fantasy/reality divide, fueled by EA's coffers. It's a diabolical scheme, really. They shall dethrone WoW through pure force of cloned numbers.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:45PM Randomessa said
@Harley Dude
No, signing up to test does not require a forum account. I can vouch for this because I signed up for beta ages ago, but only applied for a forum account a week ago.
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No, signing up to test does not require a forum account. I can vouch for this because I signed up for beta ages ago, but only applied for a forum account a week ago.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 3:16PM Dumac said
@Randomessa
I don't remember applying for a forum account, but i just went to the website and it appears that i do have one. I signed up for the beta a few days after signups were open.
Anyway a mil and a half isn't that surprising (see the first comment) if you factor that in recent years new games have been getting more and more attention (huge intrest for AoC, WAR, Aion, Rift at each launch), i think it says more about the state of the market than about each individual game. People are desperate for something new, and the game that had the most success is one that is very different than all of them (Guild Wars). It doesn't bode well for SWTOR.
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I don't remember applying for a forum account, but i just went to the website and it appears that i do have one. I signed up for the beta a few days after signups were open.
Anyway a mil and a half isn't that surprising (see the first comment) if you factor that in recent years new games have been getting more and more attention (huge intrest for AoC, WAR, Aion, Rift at each launch), i think it says more about the state of the market than about each individual game. People are desperate for something new, and the game that had the most success is one that is very different than all of them (Guild Wars). It doesn't bode well for SWTOR.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:19PM SFGamer69 said
@Puremallace
i been following rift..it has had far more than a month of hype, lol.
i been following rift..it has had far more than a month of hype, lol.
Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:44PM Randomessa said
Well, I signed up for beta, and if I were invited, I would test to the best of my ability, but I have no intention of buying the game at this juncture (although I did at the time that I signed up).
Still, I'm sure that most of that 1.5M are legitimate interests. Both fans and critics should be able to agree this is one to watch.
Still, I'm sure that most of that 1.5M are legitimate interests. Both fans and critics should be able to agree this is one to watch.










