Star Wars: The Old Republic subscriptions drop below 1 million

Subscription numbers for Star Wars the Old Republic have slipped below 1 million for the first time, and Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello called the game's performance "disappointing."

John Keefer

July 31, 2012 3:30 PM

Subscription numbers for Star Wars: The Old Republic have slipped below 1 million for the first time, Electronic Arts confirmed in their latest earnings call, prompting CEO John Riccitiello to call the game's performance "disappointing."

The high-profile MMO had 1.3 subscribers as of three months ago. Today's update reflects the game's downward momentum.

EA maintains that the game is doing better than the "break-even" level of 500,000 subscriptions, but it's clear that drastic changes needed to be made. The company announced a move to free-to-play earlier today. EA's Frank Gibeau confirmed that the goal of the F2P initiative is to get lapsed players back into the game, but admitted there are no expectations on what the response to the new program will be.

John Keefer

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Shacknews

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July 31, 2012 3:30 PM

John Keefer posted a new article, Star Wars: The Old Republic subscriptions drop below 1 million.

Subscription numbers for Star Wars the Old Republic have slipped below 1 million for the first time, and Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello called the game's performance "disappointing."
- Evan_C
  
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  July 31, 2012 3:32 PM
  
  They probably should have made the game feel more like Star Wars... rather than children's cartoon show.
  - Memphis-Ahn
    
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    July 31, 2012 4:18 PM
    
    It's not like the whole Star Wars universe is childish and Bioware can't write properly or anything, right?
    "Ha-ha-ha!"
  - pantsburgh
    
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    August 1, 2012 10:55 AM
    
    I actually don't mind the graphics. It's the fact it uses the same tired gameplay that every other MMORPG uses that kills it for me. MMORPGs are crazy boring, and this one is no exception.
- node
  
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  July 31, 2012 3:33 PM
  
  Oh. Well, this will be interesting to watch. Gotta feel sorry for the team, must've been a momental effort. I loved the story stuff but man the gameplay was average even for an MMO. :/
  
  I wonder how this will impact future expansions too, all those voice sessions can't be cheap.
- mountdreamer
  
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  July 31, 2012 3:54 PM
  
  Playing the free trial right now. Its an ok game. But I really can't see me signing up for a full month.
  The one thing I like the most is the quest. Sure, it is still the same old "go kill 4 of this" and "fetch this item from the forgotten cave", but the voice action and conversation choices do add a nice dash of flavor.
  
  Unfortunately, I have spotted so many plot holes just in the starting Jedi quests that it is starting to annoy me. Seriously, didn't anyone actually take the time to think this through?
  - azshack
    
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    July 31, 2012 3:56 PM
    
    What kind of plot holes? Like internally to the game or as it relates to the SW mythology?
- r_picmip 5
  
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  July 31, 2012 4:02 PM
  
  Oh dear. The pay to play death knell?
- Zerbyte
  
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  July 31, 2012 4:41 PM
  
  Summer time and people dropping out of online play go hand in hand.
- Draingored
  
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  July 31, 2012 5:11 PM
  
  wait...1 million? Oh yeah, it's doomed :/
  
  Seriously, if the only standard of success is WoW's pop, every new MMO will always fail.
  This phenomenon reminds me of the party scenes in Swingers.
- daggot
  
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  July 31, 2012 5:13 PM
  
  It's got some good single player aspects to it. Too bad it's an MMO where grouping is rather hard to find beyond the noob zones. I thought the full voice overs added something new to the mix. Not enough to call it innovative though. But, I found I cared a little more about why I'm killing x of y and doing various fed ex quests more than I usually do.
  
  And, it's way better than doing a corpse run back to the bottom of Lower Guk at 2am. . . I'm just saying. . .
  - azshack
    
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    July 31, 2012 5:27 PM
    
    Yeah, I mostly played single-player. The lack of an LFG tool was unbelievable.
  - Wombat Woo
    
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    July 31, 2012 5:34 PM
    
    It's not an MMO. It's a confused single player game.
- Fluffy_Bunny
  
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  July 31, 2012 6:12 PM
  
  They should release it on Steam. I would be interested then.
  - FreshwaterAU
    
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    July 31, 2012 7:51 PM
    
    They really should, it'd at least give them a small surge
- xxx2xxx
  
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  July 31, 2012 6:32 PM
  
  an mmo that has more than 200k paying subs still counts as a solid success in my pre-wow book
  - kiddygrinder
    
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    July 31, 2012 7:37 PM
    
    except with their budget they won't be back in the black for about ten years
    - StealthHawk
      
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      August 1, 2012 2:54 PM
      
      Seem to be forgetting that they sold 2 million copies in the first month at $60 a pop plus however many collector's editions. They're probably pretty close to break even already by now.
  - megreedy
    
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    August 1, 2012 12:02 AM
    
    yeah, except he says 500k breaks even... which makes 1 million profitable, but not enough surplus to feel comfortable about making new and exciting things for the game.
- darthfusion
  
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  August 2, 2012 9:18 AM
  
  "The high-profile MMO had 1.3 subscribers as of three months ago" hehe :P
- Nivekster
  
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  August 8, 2012 1:57 PM
  
  Put it on Mac OS. I've been waiting since day one.
- xTwizzlerx
  
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  August 13, 2012 7:57 PM
  
  They should've just made KotOR 3 and saved the MMO project for something with a broader appeal. I know LucasArts was having budget issues, but the amalgam that is SW:ToR is a letdown, which is sad considering all of the effort invested into it.