Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The agonizing wait for Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch date continues [Updated]]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/the-agonizing-wait-for-star-wars-the-old-republics-launch-date/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/the-agonizing-wait-for-star-wars-the-old-republics-launch-date/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/the-agonizing-wait-for-star-wars-the-old-republics-launch-date/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

SWTOR
The multi-million dollar question that's been on every Star Wars: The Old Republic fan's lips can be summed up in one word: When? While we still don't know a precise date, we may be a step or two closer to finding out today.

SWTOR fansite Darth Hater combed through a recent EA Q&A session with investors to pull a few pertinent details from CFO Eric Brown. When asked about the launch date for The Old Republic, Brown replied, "We haven't given a street date yet. We won't do so for some time, possibly at our next upcoming earnings call towards the end of October." This earnings call will take place on October 25th.

EA also continues to stand by its backup plan of a launch delay if SWTOR isn't ready, giving the title room to possibly slip from holiday 2011 to early 2012. Brown explained the conditions that would trigger such a slip: "We did hold out a slight possibility that it could slip to our March quarter. And the factors that would cause a slip is, for example, us not being completely satisfied with the scalability testing, and wanting to tune it for several extra weeks."

[Update: SWTOR's Stephen Reid has posted on the forums urging fans not to read too much between the lines of investor calls. "We are still very much aiming to ship in the holiday 2011 window (AKA, before the end of the year)," he says.]

[Update#2: The transcript was actually done by Darth Hater, which Ask a Jedi copied and pasted. The correct source is now linked.]

MassivelyThe agonizing wait for Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch date continues [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ask-a-jedibiowaredelayeaea-biowareearnings-callelectronic-artseric-browninvestorslaunchlaunch-datereleaserelease-dateslipstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-old-republictorTue, 20 Sep 2011 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[EA to be the sole source for SWTOR downloads [updated]]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/ea-to-be-the-sole-source-for-swtor-downloads/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/ea-to-be-the-sole-source-for-swtor-downloads/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/ea-to-be-the-sole-source-for-swtor-downloads/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Thanks to our friends at Darth Hater, Massively has learned that the highly anticipated MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will be sold as a direct download only through Electronic Arts itself. In an interview with CEO John Riccitiello, the Wall Street Journal uncovered news of EA's new service, one it's calling Origin. This service will provide customers with a download service for all EA games, including the Battlefield games, the Need For Speed games, and the aforementioned Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Origin is to act as a social network hub as well as a place to track all your EA game purchases, explained Riccitiello to the Wall Street Journal. This functionality will be available to all users even if they did not purchase the game directly from Origin. However, Riccitiello clarified that Star Wars: The Old Republic will still be purchasable in box form via retailers; only the digital download itself will be exclusive to Origin. Presumably, other all-digital services such as Direct2Drive and Steam will not carry the game.

The full article from the Wall Street Journal is available with a subscription to the newspaper's website.

[Update: Stephen Reid posted to the official SWTOR forums: "However, even though you'll only be able to buy and download The Old Republic digitally via Origin, you will still be able to buy a retail, boxed copy of the game from your favorite retailer (and that includes online retailers who'll ship the box to you). BioWare and EA know the value many gamers place on a cool boxed product... and we're producing a cool boxed product. (Or maybe I should say 'boxed products'.)"]

MassivelyEA to be the sole source for SWTOR downloads [updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BioWaredarth-haterdigital-downloadEAElectronic-Artseric-brownJohn-riccitielloLucasArtsOriginStar-Warsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-old-republictorwall-street-journalwsjThu, 02 Jun 2011 21:45:00 EST<![CDATA[The Old Republic attracts close to 1.5 million for beta testing]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/the-old-republic-attracts-close-to-1-5-million-for-beta-testing/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/the-old-republic-attracts-close-to-1-5-million-for-beta-testing/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/the-old-republic-attracts-close-to-1-5-million-for-beta-testing/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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.

MassivelyThe Old Republic attracts close to 1.5 million for beta testing originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>betabeta-testingbiowareclosed-betaeaea-biowareelectronic-artseric-brownopen-betapax-eaststar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-old-republictorWed, 16 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EA: The Old Republic not launching by July 1st]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/ea-the-old-republic-not-launching-by-july-1st/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/ea-the-old-republic-not-launching-by-july-1st/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/ea-the-old-republic-not-launching-by-july-1st/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Fan site Darth Hater has a bit of cold water to throw on the fires of Star Wars: The Old Republic fans who thought the highly anticipated MMORPG might actually launch prior to July 1st. It seems as if Eric Brown, CFO of TOR publisher Electronic Arts, quashed that long shot in a speech at today's Lazard Capital Markets Technology and Media Conference. If you think that was a mouthful, Brown's quote is as well, but that isn't stopping it from making the blogsphere rounds this afternoon.

"So we said it's going to launch sometime in calendar, but not within Fiscal 11. So that basically pens down between, you know, April 1st and December 31st of this calendar year. It's also reasonable to infer that it's not in our Q1 guidance. We gave Q1 Fiscal 11, Fiscal 12 non-gap revenue guidance, minus 39 minus 44 cents and I think it's not unreasonable to infer that it's not included in that 90 day period," Brown said.

So, for the three of you who actually expected BioWare's Star Wars opus this summer, we're sorry. For everyone else, it's back to the guessing game regarding release dates.

MassivelyEA: The Old Republic not launching by July 1st originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowarebreakingeaelectronic-artseric-brownhyperelease-daterelease-windowsci-fisoonstar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-old-republictorTue, 15 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[EA puts faith in The Old Republic's lifespan and profits]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/08/ea-puts-faith-in-the-old-republics-lifespan-and-profits/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/08/ea-puts-faith-in-the-old-republics-lifespan-and-profits/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/08/ea-puts-faith-in-the-old-republics-lifespan-and-profits/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

With all the cries of doom and gloom against Star Wars: The Old Republic -- not to mention accusations of a wildly bloated production budget -- one may be led to believe that TOR will fail even before it sees the light of day. EA, on the other hand, is expressing a calm confidence in the game's potential longevity and financial success.

According to Eurogamer, EA's CFO Eric Brown predicts that TOR will not only last over a decade, but will be profitable even if there are fewer than a million subscribers: "Our assumptions for break-even and profitability are not seven-digit subscribers. We think we can run and operate a very successful and profitable MMO at different levels. The key thing here is to really perfect the product. We're shooting for an extremely high quality game experience. We view this as a 10-year opportunity."

Brown previously admitted that TOR is the single largest project in the history of EA, and industry analysts have predicted that the title would need at least a million subscribers to break even.

MassivelyEA puts faith in The Old Republic's lifespan and profits originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>budgetcfoeaelectronic-artseric-browneurogamerprofitstar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicsubscribersten-yearsthe-old-republictorWed, 08 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EA confirms The Old Republic won't be launched before April 2011]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/01/ea-confirms-the-old-republic-wont-be-launched-before-april-2011/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/01/ea-confirms-the-old-republic-wont-be-launched-before-april-2011/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/01/ea-confirms-the-old-republic-wont-be-launched-before-april-2011/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

It is a dark day for the Republic (and the Empire, for that matter) -- Gamasutra reports that Star Wars: The Old Republic won't be gracing our desktops before April 2011.

Or, if you're a half-glass-full kind of person, EA did confirm that TOR will be launched during the company's 2012 fiscal year, which goes from April to December 2011. So there's that. EA CFO Eric Brown said that this was the first time the company's publicly stated a launch window for TOR, a game that is one of its most highly anticipated titles for next year. BioWare previously said that it is aiming for a spring 2011 release.

The Old Republic has been deep in testing for months now, and with 2011 just a month away, the title's release doesn't seem so much of a remote concept as an event that's lurking right around the corner.

MassivelyEA confirms The Old Republic won't be launched before April 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>betabeta-testingbiowareeaElectronic-Artseric-brownlaunchnerfherderreleasescifistar-wars-the-old-republictestingthe-old-republictorWed, 01 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Star Wars: The Old Republic not planned for fiscal year 2011]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/11/star-wars-the-old-republic-not-planned-for-fiscal-year-2011/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/11/star-wars-the-old-republic-not-planned-for-fiscal-year-2011/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/11/star-wars-the-old-republic-not-planned-for-fiscal-year-2011/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

If you're eagerly awaiting the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, even with the release window of April 2011 being thrown around, you could be forgiven for holding out hope that the game might get a slightly earlier release. (If you're sick of hearing about it, you might be hoping for an early release too, just so everyone will shut up.) But your hopes will not be borne out, it seems -- and the game might even come a bit later than we'd expected. John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, has stated again that the game is not expected to ship during fiscal year '11.

Although he didn't reference Star Wars: The Old Republic by name, Riccitiello referred to a new MMO currently under development -- and CFO Eric Brown later referred specifically to the game as not being part of the '11 fiscal year forecast. The period under discussion ends on March 31st, 2011, which means that we can still look for the game early next year, but it's not getting pushed any faster. Still, it's only a year away, and that year could go quickly.

[ via Joystiq ]

MassivelyStar Wars: The Old Republic not planned for fiscal year 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 May 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowarebioware-mmobioware-mmorpgbioware-star-warsbioware-swtoreaelectronic-artseric-brownfiscal-yearJohn-riccitiellolucas-artslucas-arts-mmolucas-arts-mmorpgreleaserelease-datestar-wars-gamestar-wars-mmostar-wars-mmorpgstar-wars-the-old-republicstar-wars-torstarwarsstarwars-the-old-republicsw-torswtorthe-old-republicTue, 11 May 2010 19:30:00 EST