During the latest financial report from Electronic Arts, the discussion briefly turned to Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011), the veteran MMORPG. EA’s CFO said: “Believe it or not, SWTOR has made nearly one billion US dollars in revenue since its release.”
In what context was the statement made? EA conducts a quarterly earnings call (via fool.com). There, they present analysts and investors with the strategy for the upcoming period and showcase the results of the last quarter.
Normally, the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic does not play a significant role in the financial reports anymore. The game originated in 2011 – as with many MMORPGs, the content has become scarcer over time. Moreover, the SWTOR team is also tasked with the ongoing development of Anthem.
Prior to Anthem, there were already rumors, that BioWare is about to let SWTOR die soon.
During the earnings call, one question revolved around the future of BioWare and what EA plans to do with the Star Wars license.
Star Wars The Old Republic: Nearly 1 billion $ revenue since release
Here’s what the CFO said: Blake Jorgensen spoke about the future of BioWare. They have a title in the works, Dragon Age, which is likely to come after fiscal year 2022. Jorgensen generally does not want to talk about things that far in the future.
But he mentioned that long-term plans are in place, also for Star Wars:
“You should assume that it’s out there [Dragon Age] and that other plans are in the works for this product and other products. There is also other Disney stuff that might come – Star Wars things that might appear in fiscal year 2022 or even earlier. We are still very active around the Disney license.
Believe it or not, but we have made nearly one billion US dollars in revenue with Star Wars: The Old Republic in its history.
That is a business that just keeps going. We like this kind of business, and we will continue to build on it. And Star Wars is clearly part of that development.”
Currently, the new expansion is also well received:
Jorgensen does not imply that there will specifically be more for Star Wars: The Old Republic or that BioWare is working on new Star Wars games. But he makes it clear that SWTOR has generated a lot of money and that Star Wars remains important for EA.
This is the exciting part: SWTOR was considered a failure in 2011 because the MMORPG subscription model was launched in December 2011 but had to switch to a F2P model in November 2012.
Many MMORPG fans thus labeled it as a “flop.”
However, SWTOR is the best example of how a subscription MMORPG can still lead a long and successful life after switching to Free2Play.
Especially the expansions “Knights of the Fallen Empire” (October 2015) and “Knights of the Eternal Throne” (December 2016) were highly praised. In them, many felt the “BioWare” spirit of good single-player RPGs continue.
Currently, the new expansion is also well received:
