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Free-to-play model more than doubled the revenue of Star Wars: The Old Republic

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Following the free-to-play announcement, many gamers were quick to mark Star Wars: The Old Republic as a broken shell of a game, with its business model conversion serving as the last gasp of a game in danger of imminent shutdown. The facts do not support that particular viewpoint. According to the most recent Electronic Arts earning call, the game has more than doubled its revenue since the conversion in November of last year.

EA president Frank Gibeau stated in the most recent earnings call that the game's subscriber numbers have remained stable, with more than 1.7 million new players joining the game via the free option. He also restated that the game is aiming to keep up a content delivery schedule around every six weeks. So if you were getting a bit nervous about the long-term viability of SWTOR, it looks like you can rest a bit more easily.

Free-to-play model more than doubled the revenue of Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 May 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: If SimCity is an MMO, what should we call actual MMOs?

Brianna Royce — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Earlier this week, EA president Frank Gibeau doubled-down on his company's earlier claims about SimCity's MMOness, suggesting the game was built as a "massively multiplayer experience" from the beginning. Rather than pick on Gibeau's comments (already done), I want to consider what would happen if we admitted defeat. What if we just accepted that the term MMO has been utterly co-opted for online singleplayer games -- what should we call "real" MMOs instead?

My colleagues suggest "persistent massively multiplayer online" -- PMMO, I suppose (would we have to change our name to "Persistently"?). While I like the idea of bringing back an old-school term like "persistent," and while it would certainly separate games like EverQuest from games like Diablo III, I worry it also excludes MMORPGs that make heavy use of instancing (and therefore aren't as persistent as they seem) even as it includes games with persistent characters but not worlds.

What do you think -- is it time to give up on the term MMO and adopt something else? Do we retreat to the imperfect label "MMORPG" or begin the hunt for a brand-new acronym?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: If SimCity is an MMO, what should we call actual MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA's Gibeau: SimCity 'plays like an MMO'

Jef Reahard — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Humor

Remember when EA announced its SimCity MMO over a year ago? No? We don't either, and that's because the MMO moniker was only recently applied following the title's disasterific launch.

Not so, according to EA president Frank Gibeau, though. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, he insisted that the online-only title has always been an MMO and that it's transition from a single-player franchise to an always-on environment has nothing to do with DRM.

"I was involved in all the meetings. DRM was never even brought up once. You don't build an MMO because you're thinking of DRM -- you're building a massively multiplayer experience, that's what you're building," Gibeau said. "SimCity started out and felt like an MMO more than anything else and it plays like an MMO."

He also posits that DRM is a "failed dead-end strategy" and "not a viable strategy for the gaming business."

So why didn't EA market SimCity as an MMO from the beginning? Apparently it just slipped everyone's mind. "I'm disappointed that we didn't do a better job communicating that upfront," Gibeau explains.

EA's Gibeau: SimCity 'plays like an MMO' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA goes 100% online with gaming

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Miscellaneous

From now on, don't expect to see EA coming out with single-player offline titles, because there won't be any. EA Labels President Frank Gibeau said that the company is full-on embracing cloud gaming and online interaction: "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a single player experience. Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365."

Forbes speculates that this approach might be a boon to MMO players, who might witness a movement toward more integrated services. EA isn't looking to turn all of its titles into MMOs, however, but is definitely adding multiplayer components and more social interaction to them going forward.

Gibeau claims that this is what the players are demanding. "People want to access games anytime and anywhere, they want to connect with friends, and they want to be recognized across multiple devices," he said. "Cloud gaming is going to make it easier to step over walled gardens."

EA goes 100% online with gaming originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA COO maintains confidence in BioWare

MJ Guthrie — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Some gamers claim that EA has lost confidence in BioWare, citing the studio's difficult year that included the less-than-hoped-for performance of Star Wars: The Old Republic and that the move to free-to-play later this fall is a sign of failure. EA COO Peter Moore, however, directly refutes that, saying, "They're doing great."

Moore gave EA's take on why SWTOR didn't do as well as expected, explaining that the world of gaming changed between the time that project started and now, making a shift from subscription-based to F2P. He pointed out that changing business models was directly related to the desires of the playerbase, stating, "We do exit interviews. When people say I'm churning out, I'm going to step away for a while, we ask them why. Forty percent of people said, I just don't want to pay $15 a month. I love the game, but I'm just not into the subscription business."

EA President Frank Gibeau first revealed the 40% sub-related departure rate in a previous investor call.

EA COO maintains confidence in BioWare originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA boss: SWTOR 'absolutely going to embrace' free model

Jef Reahard — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic

There's more news incoming on the Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play front. Electronic Arts boss Frank Gibeau recently talked business strategy with GamesIndustry International.

"We're going to be in the business from a long-term standpoint so absolutely we're going to embrace free access, free trial, ultimately some day we can move in and embrace that model," he tells the website. Gibeau also stresses that EA is "really proud of Star Wars" and "really excited about the launch."

He stops short of sounding the death-knell for the subscription model, though. "I don't think subscriptions ever go away, but when you have an IP as broad as Star Wars, we're definitely going to look at opportunities to grow that business and look at different ways of bringing customers in and serving them," he says.

EA boss: SWTOR 'absolutely going to embrace' free model originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA bosses weigh in on SWTOR sub number drop

Jef Reahard — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:15:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Yesterday we told you about Star Wars: The Old Republic's official 1.3 million subscriber headcount. Electronic Arts has weighed in on the number, with CEO John Riccitello stating that the game's player numbers are "very much in line with our original assumptions."

EA's Frank Gibeau says that TOR's 400,000 subscriber drop from its February peak is a result of casual players deciding not to renew after a billing cycle.

Eurogamer reports that TOR falls within EA's top 10 most profitable franchises but comes up short of the Battlefield, Medal of Honor, The Sims, and Madden franchises. Riccitello also addressed TOR's high profile in both fan and media circles. "So while I understand there's an enormous amount of interest, I don't know that it warrants as much as what we're seeing right now. But we love the franchise, we're going to grow the franchise," he explained.

EA bosses weigh in on SWTOR sub number drop originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 May 2012 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SWTOR Friday update talks warzones, EA pooh-poohs launch-day demand concerns

Jef Reahard — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dungeons

Electronic Arts boss Frank Gibeau says that fans shouldn't fret about the possibility of missing out on Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch day. The only trouble is that he doesn't say how, opting instead to float a few lines of fluffy marketing speak during a conference call this week.

"We're looking at a rollout plan that is fairly ambitious. We don't feel like we're going to be leading too much demand behind at launch but we definitely are going to be very cautious and thoughtful about how many people we bring on and in what order," Gibeau says. So, how exactly does that allay our launch-day left-at-the-altar fears? Yeah, your guess is as good as ours.

Moving on to more useful SWTOR news, the official site has pumped out its traditional Friday update, and today's reveal isn't so much a reveal as it is a concise collection of information about the game's warzone functionality. Head over to the site for some verbiage and videos about Voidstar, Huttball, and Alderaan.

SWTOR Friday update talks warzones, EA pooh-poohs launch-day demand concerns originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SWTOR launch date hinges on fan beta reaction

Jef Reahard — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Speculation about Star Wars The Old Republic's launch date is reaching a fever pitch lately, with fans hanging on every word from BioWare and Electronic Arts staffers and chomping at the bit to experience the title's September beta weekends.

The latest release-related blurb comes courtesy of EA bigwig Frank Gibeau, who told CVG that while EA-BioWare does have a date in mind, fan reaction to the beta will ultimately tell the tale.

"It [the launch date] is definitely tied to the beta test feedback that's ongoing and so far, so good. We feel good about the date that we're heading towards but you're right, you could have a Crazy Ivan show up in the September/October beta test and be like, 'wow, I've got to fix that,'" Gibeau said.

SWTOR launch date hinges on fan beta reaction originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA proclaims SWTOR preorder breaks records

Larry Everett — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (Real-World), New Titles, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic set the new bar for EA's pre-order sales according the to the notes for the Q1 Fiscal Earnings Release. The previous bar was set by Battlefield 3, but according to President Frank Gibeau during the investor's conference call today, SWTOR far exceed BF3's pre-order sales. In fact, according to Gibeau the sales exceeded the company's expected sales curve, therefore breaking records no one at the game developing company could have expected.

As for the release date that everyone seems to be waiting for, CEO John Riccitiello explained during the call that although they have set a wide margin for the release date, they are confident in the projected release of holiday 2011. It is not uncommon according to Riccitiello for an MMO to withhold an exact release date until four to six weeks prior to launch. That said, EA CFO Eric Brown did say, "In September, we will be in a position to call the ball and give you a hard ship date" following the major beta testing push.

[Update: Originally, we quoted Frank Gibeau with the "hard ship date" quote, but the official transcript credits Eric Brown with the statement.]

EA proclaims SWTOR preorder breaks records originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA quotes '200 hours of gameplay per class' in SWTOR

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Interviews, Star Wars: The Old Republic

For most single-player video games, eight to 20 hours of gameplay is currently considered "sufficient." For Star Wars: The Old Republic, those numbers are merely a prologue to the main event.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Electronic Arts' Frank Gibeau said that players should expect around 200 hours of core gameplay per class, not including side activities like PvP and raiding. He was responding to a question about the game's allegedly high budget, which Gibeau says is worth the investment: "It's vast. It's a gigantic game. And that costs money. But when you get one of these launched they persist for a long period of time."

Gibeau also commented on the decision to exclusively release the digital version of SWTOR through EA's Origin service: "In the case of Star Wars we're trying to build an audience for Origin. And it's also an opportunity for us to better manage the downloads and how we bring people over from the beta and that sort of thing. For a lot of reasons it made sense for an MMO, which is a highly complex deployment."

EA quotes '200 hours of gameplay per class' in SWTOR originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA talks tough on The Old Republic vs. WoW

Jef Reahard — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

It's not hard to imagine the executives at Electronic Arts in the shoes of Luke Skywalker at the end of Return of the Jedi: deep in uncharted territory, surrounded by foes at the eleventh hour, their eyes fixated on the prize that is a giant lightsaber-driven payoff currently resting comfortably on the arm of Emperor Blizzard's throne.

These days it seems like you can't have a conversation about Star Wars: The Old Republic without also having one about World of Warcraft, and whether that's due to the incessant fan comparisons or the tough talk by BioWare and EA bigwigs regarding Blizzard's behemoth, it is, to quote a certain wrinkly old Sith lord, unavoidable.

The latest entry in the intergalactic e-peen contest comes courtesy of EA Games' Frank Gibeau. In an interview with Industry Gamers, Gibeau wastes little time in proclaiming Star Wars as the world's largest IP "in terms of audience size" and also equates WoW's quest-driven gameplay with a trip to the local supermarket. "You go and do your quests, but it feels more like doing a shopping list at times. [Our game] is more about talking to characters, learning what's going on, investing in it, getting emotionally attached to it," Gibeau says. Whether or not BioWare's story-warriors ultimately manage to launch a couple of proton torpedoes up Blizzard's thermal exhaust port, we're pretty sure the war of words is just getting started.

EA talks tough on The Old Republic vs. WoW originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA abandoning offline game development

Jef Reahard — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous

Kotaku points out a grim omen for the future of offline gaming in the form of some comments from Electronic Arts executive Frank Gibeau. In an interview at Develop, Gibeau minces few words about the future of the firm's business model.

"They're [EA studio heads] very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay -- be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services -- as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out. I think that model is finished. Online is where the innovation, and the action, is at," he says.

While it's clear why publishers are desperate to move everything online (hello monetization and DRM), the benefits to the consumer are decidedly less apparent. Whether the larger gaming industry adopts an MMO-style access model remains to be seen, but EA is clearly moving in that direction.

EA abandoning offline game development originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA vs EA: Will Star Wars hurt Warhammer Online?

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Business Models, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Not according to EA Games president Frank Gibeau, who has been understandably diplomatic about the potential success of the company's upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he discusses his views on the different virtual space occupied by SWTOR and Warhammer Online, after being specifically asked about it at a recent event in San Francisco.

"Well, as much as Need for Speed is a competitor for FIFA," Gibeau stated in the GamesIndustry.biz interview. "They compete in the same genre of videogames but they're very diverse customer bases. The Warhammer customer base will overlap to a degree with Star Wars, but obviously you're bringing in millions of new customers with the Star Wars universe."

EA vs EA: Will Star Wars hurt Warhammer Online? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will SWTOR be bigger than WoW? LucasArts thinks so

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Business Models, Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Here we go again. While recent triple-A MMOs have shied away from a downright challenge to competing with World of Warcraft's behemoth subscription numbers, EA Games president Frank Gibeau and LucasArts' online chief Tom Nichols have come right out and said that Star Wars: The Old Republic has the potential to be bigger than WoW.

According to a recent interview with videogaming247, BioWare's newly announced MMO has very high expectations. Both Nichols and Gibeau seem very confident in the power of the Star Wars brand to take the game higher than any other MMO has gone before. "This is going to be a powerful category and there's lots of ways to compete in this category," Gibeau stated. "[Blizzard] created a much larger opportunity for everybody else, but that doesn't mean it's going to stay that way."

Will SWTOR be bigger than WoW? LucasArts thinks so originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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