JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Actually paying $15/month X 12 = $180/year which is about the cost of 3 games, so a MMORPG with 1/10th the population can net roughly the same as a standard game if it lasted 3 years. Now for the EA sports game, they're basicaly a MMORPG that costs $5/month for an yearly roster update, you can't really compete against that! You're failing to consider that those games have a YEARLY update version. Games like Madden and FIFA get high sales like that per year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Right, but even selling 10 million games, those games are so simple to update these days that I bet you and I could do it (not BF, that's probably slightly more more intensive). Think about the current ROI for Madden and FIFA alone - it has to be mind blowing. A few tweaks to the engine, updated rosters, maybe a new stadium every year. So while those may be "investor" and "profit" priorities, that doesn't mean they would willfully neglect SWTOR because of them. I can only assume that there's no chance in hell that Madden or FIFA needs a staff of 600 employees to develop/update (600 was the last # of employees at Bioware Austin I saw), even when they completely re-do the game engines. Those titles are MASSIVE $ cows. SWTOR may not have the current ability to compete with the cross platform console games, but...even a game like SWG was making money 8 years after development, with a skeleton crew. Bottom line, I don't think the statement was made to dis SWTOR as much as it was to say to investors "guys, SWTOR is a drop in the bucket for us, don't freak out, we'll still make $". Being in the top 10 certainly doesn't mean it'll be "neglected". Just not given as much priority as the bigger sellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noladev Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Sorry if this has been posted already, didn't see it. Search brought up nothing. Source Basically, TOR never was to be a "bellwether" for the company. Which actually makes sense. What do you think? Still at it Jeramie? I guess you'll be waving this flag until the funeral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celebrus Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 You're failing to consider that those games have a YEARLY update version. Games like Madden and FIFA get high sales like that per year. I don't know about Fifa, but Madden is also pumping their new "Ultimate Team" game mode from year to year now, it's basically a mode in which you collect cards representing players and then use those cards to build a team to play against others. Of course it can be a significant investment, in 09 or 2010, can't remember which was the first year, I probably put a good $150+ into making a solid team, I decided it was better for me to avoid that game mode in following years. My point is though, those games are quickly becoming games that sell themselves more than once to consumers, along with having annual installments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 I don't recall ever seeing BW saying this. EVERY projection I ever saw was that their goal was a million subscribers, with their break-even point at 500k. BioWare never said it, EA did. After EA did, BioWare actually came back and said "uhhh, no we're not looking to specifically take on that giant". BW has always had realistic numbers. And now EA does since they've been smacked down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celebrus Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 BioWare never said it, EA did. After EA did, BioWare actually came back and said "uhhh, no we're not looking to specifically take on that giant". BW has always had realistic numbers. And now EA does since they've been smacked down. lol Reading the news today it seems to me that BW are the ones that are on the receiving end of any smack downs that may be occurring.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arodin Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Just want to point out that EA has to pay about $60 million per year to the NFL for the exclusive rights to use the NFL teams and rosters. Madden development may not get up to $100 million, especially since they basically put out the same game every year with a few updates, but it still costs them quite a lot even before they hire a single programmer. So it's not like SWTOR is the only game EA has ever spent big money on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodde Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I'm Italian and I've always played soccer on my consoles. FIFA was my choice until 1998, then PES came along and I felt like the whole nation moved to this new franchise. A few years ago, EA decided to take the crown back, and now PES is losing ground on sales. Morale: EA/BioWare will fight with the big guns, even if almost dying, to mantain profitability. By the way, do you think they will run out of the investment that quickly? MMOs are a new segment for them, I think they will not cannibalize their market... meaning that to expand the segment they will focus on SWTOR. Moreover, I believe they are addressing the right problems with every fix (regardless of the bugs) and having played the other big MMO I feel that this one has a better feel. I would say to have faith in the game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacenHallis Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) Ask Lucas Arts what they think! Perhaps if Lucasarts cared as much as some of the people on this forum want to believe they cared, then they wouldn't have given up the publishing duties to EA. When TOR was announced, Bioware was the developer, and Lucasarts--not EA--was the publisher. Later in development, the publishing duties transferred over to EA, and Lucasarts' sole role became "licensor of the IP." Edited May 23, 2012 by JacenHallis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzi Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) I dont believe that for one second. This is damage control and spin for investors. Compare the suspected budget for this game and other EA titles. This. I can't help but imagine they'd be singing praises had the launch and first six months been a rousing success. Instead, they bungled the core population problems, dropped a dud with 1.2, and it looks like 1.3 will be "Update Lite." For this, the game has bled 1.1 million subscribers, down from 2.4 million box sales--that's quite a lot when you consider 1.2 million is what they apparently need to be happy (they've lost or failed to retain as many people as they'd want subscribing consistently). They're disappointed and have started circling the wagons, but you can't blame them; if I had the license to a franchise like Star Wars, I'd think I was infallible too. Edited May 23, 2012 by Dezzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islander Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 So it's clear that these people have no absolutely no passion for their game. Completely analytical, bunsiness minded approach to product development. They're in a fan service industry, and completely ignore their fans. Hellllooooo this is EA here. Don't act surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 lol Reading the news today it seems to me that BW are the ones that are on the receiving end of any smack downs that may be occurring.... Well, yeah... EA's good at that. Like water off a duck's back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Januaria Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Haha. That's funny. Imagine Madden doing play-by-play as we level. Might make the "LFG" spamming a little more exciting. Heh. Truthfully, that made me laugh out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Still at it Jeramie? I guess you'll be waving this flag until the funeral. Err...still at what? You quoted me, but I doubt you read it, much less comprehended my complaint... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needalight Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think we need to put this game in the hands of people that consider this game at least top 3. THIS IS STAR WARS. It's a crying shame that the greatest MMO IP has been once again put in apparently careless hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navocky Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) I think we need to put this game in the hands of people that consider this game at least top 3. THIS IS STAR WARS. It's a crying shame that the greatest MMO IP has been once again put in apparently careless hands game flops (just an example doesnt have to mean that SWTOR will flop) do you tell people - investors who pay you money- that it was A)nr 1 on your agenda? B)not really so important? Edited May 23, 2012 by navocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think we need to put this game in the hands of people that consider this game at least top 3. THIS IS STAR WARS. It's a crying shame that the greatest MMO IP has been once again put in apparently careless hands Well, it is in the hands of BioWare, who, I believe, DO still care about the game. EA's focus isn't the community, though, and it shows. Although, I think they need to at least give a little more attention to the community. Okay, a lot more.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkirus Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 SWTOR is a financial success. They will have made all their money back by the end of the year. Bioware is doing what the community wants albeit at a slower pace then desired. Right now the top 3 gripes are Server pop cant find a group cant find an op cant get into a WZ etc. thats about to basically be fixed, with 1.4 coming with lots of content. People don't hate the core game, those people left and SWTOR still had 1.7 million. No reason to think that people wont come back and the game can't have a million by the end of the year. It's still a new MMO. And yeah, ppl will have their gripes with guild wars 2 as well. "Some" left when they still had 1.7...and more before it dropped to 1.3...and more have left after that...the "slid" continues . Those who left are not going to come back if all they offer here in the near furture is some restricted free server transfers and a same server LFG tool which is not going to solve the issue of not finding a group on a low pop server. I will be surprised if TOR has 400k subs total by the end of the year. We think things are bad now on the servers...wait until GW2 releases. Yeah..I personally have no interest in it and will not buy it without first a free trial. But tons of players will. Then we have MOP...which no matter how much you hate panda's...will sell millions of copies because Blizz knows how to make games which entertain and hold the interest for millions of players. And that pretty much sums up my feelings about John Riccitiello's comment about the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 "Some" left when they still had 1.7...and more before it dropped to 1.3...and more have left after that...the "slid" continues . Those who left are not going to come back if all they offer here in the near furture is some restricted free server transfers and a same server LFG tool which is not going to solve the issue of not finding a group on a low pop server. I will be surprised if TOR has 400k subs total by the end of the year. We think things are bad now on the servers...wait until GW2 releases. Yeah..I personally have no interest in it and will not buy it without first a free trial. But tons of players will. Then we have MOP...which no matter how much you hate panda's...will sell millions of copies because Blizz knows how to make games which entertain and hold the interest for millions of players. And that pretty much sums up my feelings about John Riccitiello's comment about the game. GW2 isn't launching until around Thanksgiving. Still, it's a narrow window of opportunity for BioWare here... But there is a window of opportunity still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkirus Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 GW2 isn't launching until around Thanksgiving. Still, it's a narrow window of opportunity for BioWare here... But there is a window of opportunity still... How do you know it is not releasing until this Nov? MOP however is releasing this summer..may be late summer...but before fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 How do you know it is not releasing until this Nov? MOP however is releasing this summer..may be late summer...but before fall. Sorry, latest news is fall, so anywhere between September and November. Probably a Thanksgiving launch, as it's one of the typical launch windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badaya Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I wonder if Lucasarts and Bioware knew going into this deal that EA considered Star Wars to be not as important as "Madden, Fifa, or Need for Speed, or The Sims or Sim City or Medal of Honor." If I was giving the Star Wars license to a company I would expect it to be their top priority. This isn't some small or mid tier franchise we are talking about, this is freaking Star Wars! I can't imagine a franchise that has made more money with combined sales of everything than Star Wars. To put Star Wars below Sim City, Need for Speed and Medal of Honor is so beyond stupid I'm actually laughing just thinking about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) I wonder if Lucasarts and Bioware knew going into this deal that EA considered Star Wars to be not as important as "Madden, Fifa, or Need for Speed, or The Sims or Sim City or Medal of Honor." If I was giving the Star Wars license to a company I would expect it to be their top priority. This isn't some small or mid tier franchise we are talking about, this is freaking Star Wars! I can't imagine a franchise that has made more money with combined sales of everything than Star Wars. To put Star Wars below Sim City, Need for Speed and Medal of Honor is so beyond stupid I'm actually laughing just thinking about it. Completely agreed. I mean, fiscally I can understand. But he does seem to be disregarding its potential. Edited May 23, 2012 by JeramieCrowe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilosoldier Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I wonder if Lucasarts and Bioware knew going into this deal that EA considered Star Wars to be not as important as "Madden, Fifa, or Need for Speed, or The Sims or Sim City or Medal of Honor." If I was giving the Star Wars license to a company I would expect it to be their top priority. This isn't some small or mid tier franchise we are talking about, this is freaking Star Wars! I can't imagine a franchise that has made more money with combined sales of everything than Star Wars. To put Star Wars below Sim City, Need for Speed and Medal of Honor is so beyond stupid I'm actually laughing just thinking about it. Yes. He is full of crap. This game was a huge staple during their investor calls leading up to launch of SWTOR. Its nothing but WS spin to sooth investors and calm speculations on his companies stock. They looked to WoW and desperately have been trying to mimic that cash cow for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drudenfusz Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Funny how he says SWTOR is a success, but BioWare cutback the staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts