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Analyst: SWTOR caused Dragon Age III delay

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, Star Wars: The Old Republic

There's been a lot of discussion following the recent EA earnings report in which the company announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic has 1.3 million subscribers, down from its previous 1.7 million mark. We've heard from the fans, the critics, and the studio itself -- now it's time for the analysts to contribute their side of the conversation. According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, EA's investment in SWTOR has caused a delay in other projects at BioWare, particularly in Dragon Age III's case.

The analyst noted that Dragon Age III's expected release window was delayed, and he says this is due to the enormous undertaking of SWTOR. "We believe that a significant portion of the BioWare team responsible for the game was reassigned to Star Wars in order to create content and fix bugs to keep the game's audience engaged," Pachter said.

Delay or no, Pachter is upbeat about EA's future, especially in light of the earnings report's news that the company turned a profit. He says that the company will continue to grow, make money, and be a good bet for investors.

Analyst: SWTOR caused Dragon Age III delay originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 May 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square Enix working on a new MMO

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, MMO industry, New titles, Final Fantasy XIV, Miscellaneous

It's been a tough year for Square Enix, but the studio isn't down and out just yet. On the contrary, during a recent earning briefing CEO Yoichi Wada mentioned that the company is developing another title to be run alongside Final Fantasy XI and XIV.

While the details are scarce, Wada said that this goes along with the company's strategy to run two to three MMOs at the same time in order to maintain a strong cash flow. According to the report, Square Enix is focused on developing several new IPs in addition to strengthening its current lineup.

Wada said that the new game will be announced by April 2012. This doesn't mean that the studio is abandoning its promise to bring Final Fantasy XIV up to par, a focus that Wada says remains a priority.

Square Enix working on a new MMO originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer holds its ground with 300k subs

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

A minor note in EA's most recent earnings report revealed that as of March 31, 2009, Warhammer Online had over 300,000 subscribers, which is right about where it was at in December 2008. What's that we hear in the distance? I do believe it's the sound of thousands of haters and fanboys doing glorious forum battle.

Three hundred thousand players is actually a pretty good number these days. In fact, CCP was extremely happy to announce hitting the 300k+ mark today, on EVE's 6th birthday. Most MMO analysts would probably say WAR is one of the top 5 subscription MMOs in Europe/North America.

On the other hand, EA and Mythic can't be too happy about the current population situation since Mark Jacobs has made a couple famous remarks about population numbers in the past. The first is that WAR would be successful if it had north of 500k subscribers. The second is that 250k subscribers doesn't look too good to investors when you've made an initial investment of over $50M and have high maintenance costs. You might also want to factor in that Mythic started a recruit-a-friend program, free trial, and launched in Russia all during the period of the quarter being reported on.

With Aion set for release in fall 2009, WAR may soon face some stiff competition on the PvP/RvR front. A lot may be riding on Mythic's new live expansion, The Land of the Dead set for release this summer.

Warhammer holds its ground with 300k subs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 May 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SWTOR might be EA's best chance at improving profitability

William Dobson — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, Star Wars: The Old Republic

In a recent article on Gamasutra, Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz discussed EA's disappointing performance of late, blaming the software giant's "inability to develop hit core-gamer console titles". This has led to him significantly lowering his estimates for their 2009 earnings. The analyst's reportings are fairly doom-and-gloom, but he did mention A New Hope for the company: Star Wars: The Old Republic.

EA acquired BioWare, the developers of SWTOR, back in October last year. Creutz is of the belief that EA has really messed up their console campaign this generation, and SWTOR could be the "best chance" they have to increase profitability -- that is, if it can hold its own against the reigning champ World of Warcraft. We have faith that BioWare will be able to bring out a quality MMO, and you couldn't ask for a better IP. It really all depends on how well the title will have to do to be of any use to EA -- obviously better than Warhammer Online, which did not even earn a mention in the analyst's report.

SWTOR might be EA's best chance at improving profitability originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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