Saturday, December 03, 2011

Big Profit Expectations for The Old Republic

As December has gotten underway, we’ve already been lucky enough to enjoy a few beta testing sessions ahead of The Old Republic’s highly anticipated release on the 20th. With a number of positive reviews in thus far, there has still been a bit of objectivity levied from a few, including Activision’s president Bobby Kotick, who is said to believe that Electronic Arts won’t benefit much from the holiday release. This assessment has little basis on the game play and selling numbers that are expected, but it’s still a bit misguided. 

Just this past week, Eurogamer was lucky enough to speak with a few major industry analysts who see strong profits on the horizon for both LucasArts and Electronic Arts. One of the analysts spoke of an expected $300 million in revenue generation, which would result in an excellent take home for both Star Wars the Old Republic developers. 



Because Electronic Arts will be taking home about 30 percent of the total revenue for The Old Republic, they would stand to take in nearly $80 million if numbers came anywhere close to what some analysts are predicting, which would surely be a very good achievement. Subscriber totals are expected to be the driving force behind the possible revenue for both developers.

Subscriber estimates are ranging anywhere from 1.5 to 3 million expected in the early months of 2012. If The Old Republic can garner in subscribers anywhere near 3 million in total, the end revenue could possibly reach the height of $500 million, which would be outstanding for both LucasArts and Electronic Arts.

Early doubt, especially that from Bobby Kotick has been totally based off the revenue and license share levels between Electronic Arts and LucasArts. Game play and the early reviews have been positive for the most part, especially after strong responses to the game play and storyline following the initial beta testing sessions, which saw over one million hours logged by hundreds of thousands of gamers.

With the strong initial reviews in hand, expectations have grown with the fact that the game will be released during the core of the holiday gift buying season. Many families are choosing to take advantage of this timing by pre ordering the game, instead of waiting to purchase it after the wide release on December 20.

There is only a minor risk of failure expected for The Old Republic, especially after the beta testing sessions throughout the month of November. Developers have set goals for The Old Republic to compete in long term users and sales with other MMO mainstays like World of Warcraft. Even though this level of success still remains questionable, the game looks to have a strong combination of inviting factors. If it is able to appeal to both casual gamers and the dedicated Star Wars fans, expect the franchise to assert itself as an MMO powerhouse in 2012 and beyond.

By : Justin Taylor

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