Electronic Arts chief financial officer Eric Brown has resigned from his position at the company, Gamasutra reports. He’s only been with the company for under three years but Friday, February 17th will be his last day. The following Tuesday he will start his new role as both the CFO and COO of communications company Polycom. Current chief accounting officer and senior vice president Kenneth Barker will serve as CFO for EA until they find a new official replacement. Some are saying that Brown is leaving the sinking ship they have dubbed the “TORtanic” before it is too late but is this departure really evidence that something is wrong at the company? It’s important to look at all the facts when making such an accusation. First, Brown has a history of coming and going- with EA as well as with other companies. He first joined EA in 1998 but left for…
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EA Claims SWTOR Did Better than WoW in First Month
In the quarterly earnings call for Electronic Arts, they announced they had 1.7 million active subscribers to SWTOR. These are some pretty huge numbers but just what do they mean? These figures count the number of players who have subscribed to the game past the first month free trial you get with purchase. This means that Star Wars: The Old Republic has gained more followers in the first month than Blizzard Entertainment’s immensely popular World Of Warcraft (WoW) did during the same period. (via Hexus) Of course, these are just early figures and in the SWTOR vs WoW arena, Blizzard has a 7-year head start. The true test of MMORPG brilliance will come when we see where SWTOR is in the long run. Where will they be after 6 months? What about a year from release? What about 7 years? The true test of success lies in whether or not…
SWTOR Paid Subscriptions are Up
This news comes late, but according to the EA quarter earnings call last week, subscriptions to SWTOR are up- way up! Industry analysts say SWTOR is seeing some good numbers. They are reporting 1.3 million paid subscribers. If you remember another recent report, however, these numbers are just slightly off of what BioWare reported- 1.7 million. Either way, the numbers are fairly close and it means a positive thing for SWTOR and also for EA. The company has many investors hanging on to every update hoping the company will continue to succeed. A great deal of the success of the company rides on the success of this one game so you can bet that investors are seeking every bit of info they can get on it. So far, so good for BioWare and EA because the subscription numbers are high and it’s still a very new game. We can expect…
Incoming Ads for SWTOR
I know a thing or two about marketing- it’s part of my job in many ways. I often write advertising copy, help with social media marketing and article marketing and run online advertising campaigns for clients. This experience in marketing allows me to understand one common problem with many MMORPGs today- they lack the proper marketing to get noticed by the masses. Blizzard has the resources and the funds for a huge marketing campaign. They have ads everywhere you look, often right under our noses when we don’t even realize it. The problem is that most developers just don’t have the resources to compete, especially with a giant like Blizzard in the MMORPG world. But EA is preparing to carpet bomb you with SWTOR ads, as Dual Shockers explains: Thanks to a transcript of the Q&A Session held during the conference we can get a little more insight on what…
One Analyst Says SWTOR Sales Concerns are Being Overdone
Some are saying that SWTOR is not selling as well as it was first expected. There has been a bit of an outcry over this in the industry but one analyst group doesn’t think the concerns are that big of a deal. According to Gamasutra: Analyst group Macquarie Securities has released a new report which states that, while there are clearly concerns in the industry that Electronic Arts and BioWare’s recently released Star Wars: The Old Republic isn’t selling as well as first hoped, these outcries are “overdone.” The story goes on to explain that while SWTOR releases last month and passed 1 million paid subs in three days (a record for MMOs), EA has still seen a drop in stock price of 3%. This analyst group thinks that many of the issues that are being brought up about SWTOR are actually based on conjecture and says that just because…
Brokers Concerned about EA Stock Due to SWTOR
SWTOR is a big earner for BioWare and Electronic Arts. The extreme popularity of the game pre-launch and at launch led to great success for EA- at least from the start. All around, the company was recognized and this included with rising stock prices. However, with that fame comes great responsibility. EA has a lot to live up to with SWTOR. There are expectations not only from the gamers but also from those who have invested into the company, based on the proposed success from the game. Any sign of failure on this part will effect more than just the gamers who are playing. Recent reports of bugs and performance issues could be responsible for some investors to question their stock in EA. Could they be jumping too soon? Performance issues cause EA stocks to drop with concerns over SWTOR. This report on Market Watch explains: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) —…
EA Has Invested Half a BILLION Dollars in Star Wars
In a story at MarketWatch.com, we learn a bit of interesting news about SWTOR. It’s an article/interview about Electronic Arts’ CEO Riccitiello, 52, but contains a fun tidbit about the BioWare hit of the year- SWTOR. According to the source: In a Dec. 23 statement, EA boasted that “The Old Republic” had attracted more than 1 million registered subscribers in just three days on the market. Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co. says that Riccitiello’s tenure as CEO has featured misfires along with its successes but that “Star Wars” may represent his biggest bet of all, considering both the purchase price of BioWare/Pandemic and the development costs poured into the game since then. “I think it’s safe to say that the total all-in investment in ‘Star Wars’ is probably approaching half a billion dollars,” Creutz says. “EA has minimized its risks as much as it can on this bet, but…
Research firm: SWTOR has 350,000 peak concurrent users
Just how many people are actually playing SWTOR? It’s obvious that the game is very popular but how do you put numbers on just how popular it is? GamesIndustry.biz has a story that tells us a little more about just how many users SWTOR boasts today, just weeks after the official launch. One research firm says that SWTOR has 350,000 concurrent users. “”We view the early success of Star Wars as an indication of a healthy MMO market,” said Baird spokesman Colin Sebastian. These users are said to be spread across 215 servers in America and Europe. This is nearly half the 491 servers in WoW. However, these numbers from the firm are different from what the BioWare doctors are reporting. They had different numbers according to their blog post on the official forums. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk say: “Yesterday was quite a day here in Austin. We likely…
SWTOR “fastest in history” MMO to 1 million subscribers
Star Wars: The Old Republic “fastest in history” MMO to 1 million subscribers – or so says Geek.com. I am not surprised in the slightest to hear of these statistics. Even if I wasn’t a personal fan of the game, it’s easy to follow the history of the game to date and see the great popularity of it thus far. It has the makings of an incredible, stat-breaking game or a failure of epic proportions if it lets the gamers down. So far, it’s leaning towards the former. Sure there are gamers who just aren’t that impressed with SWTOR and that’s ok. To each his own, right? But still, there are millions who are into the game and appreciate it for what it is and what it might be. Can you believe that SWTOR has 1 million subscribers already? This makes it the fastest MMO to reach this feat. Geek.com…
The Old Republic already has over 1 million players – analyst
Are you in SWTOR early access? If so, you could be part of 1.5 million gamers who are already experiencing what SWTOR has to offer. Pre-order customers like yours truly have been enjoying the early access offered by BioWare which served as a great incentive for people to lay down some cold hard cash on the game before it’s official launch. While the big day is not until tomorrow, reports say that 1.5 million people could already be in the game. We have been getting in by “waves” of people at a time, in the order in which our pre-order codes were put in after purchase. While this was intended to ease the access and spreadout login queues, there have still been some long queues for access, especially throughout the weekend. At its worst point on Saturday night, it took me two hours to get into the server that my…
Activision Questions Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Chances at Profitability
The days are counting down to the December 20th launch of SWTOR and as many are getting excited about the upcoming MMO, there are others who don’t quite fall into all the hype. Some are predicting SWTOR might not do as well as predicted and that even if it does, there won’t be much room for profit for EA with such an expensive game that they also have to share licensing rights with to Lucas Arts. Will there be any room left for profit from SWTOR? Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick says EA Will Lose Out with The Old Republic but could he be right? There’s no surprise that there are skeptics when it comes to SWTOR. In fact, with any big thing, there are going to be those who oppose it but how much truth might there be to the questioning? Kotick made his remarks about SWTOR at the Reuters…
EA Makes Right the Wrong of BF3 and Battlefield 1943
A few days ago I brought you the story of EA being sued by disgruntled gamers over their BF3 fiasco. It seems they are taking the issue seriously and have decided to remedy the problem. They have issued a statement on their website that all owners of Battlefield 3 on the PS3 will get a free copy of Battlefield 1943 starting this month. Full details on who is eligible and how to get your copy is available from their site. Do you think this is a good enough response to the whole debacle? Has EA taken the right steps to resolve the matter and smooth things over with gamers everywhere by correcting their mistake and quickly making the game available to those who originally thought they would get it via a promotion? It’s a nice little bonus to anyone who just bought BF3 and might not have even known about…
“BioWare Bets Big With the Old Republic” Says Fast Company
Star Wars: The Old Republic is scheduled to launch December 20, 2011 and BioWare’s expectation for its future is huge. With all the time and energy put into this MMO, BioWare bets big that it’s going to be a big hit. The SWTOR headquarters is located in Austin, Texas. This seems fitting to some since the Lonestar State has the slogan “everything is bigger in Texas” and SWTOR is one of the largest MMO to ever be released. Fast Company tells us how BioWare bets big with SWTOR. Is it a bet that will pay off in time for the company? BioWare has put 6 years of testing and debugging into the game and logged 4.6 million hours of beta testing. They are now ready to see if the efforts they’ve put into the game are going to pay off. Will gamers respond to this MMO the way they expect…
EA Being Sued for Battlefield 1943 Broken Promises
Gamers don’t take kindly to being let down. Broken promises over Battlefield 1943 have landed EA in the middle of a lawsuit. US law firm Edelson McGuire has filed a class action suit against EA on behalf of unhappy PlayStation gamers in a bid to get them the free copy of Battlefield 1943 they were originally assured they would receive, Kotaku reports. The promise was made at E3, where Sony executives promised to bundle Battlefield 3 with copies of the new Battlefield 1943. Gamers who bought the game expecting to get Battlefield 3 were highly disappointed. The suit alleges that EA “misled and profited from thousands of their customers by making a promise that [it] could not, and never intended, to keep”. However, the lawsuit is about more than just the broken promise. It also cites the late announcement of the matter, which was made after many customers had already…
Electronic Arts 2Q FY12 Earnings Call Recap
Electronic Arts held its Q2 2012 earnings conference call today and here they discussed with their shareholders as well as industry analysts the predictions of potential revenue from SWTOR. Now that we have a definite release date for SWTOR of December 20, 2011, there is more to be talked about in the earnings call. Past earning calls were not able to pinpoint the exact launch date, leaving some things uncertain. COO Peter Moore talks about the SWTOR launch and testing plans: “This is inarguably the most anticipated game of the year, an epic MMO that makes each player the hero of their own Star Wars saga. The Old Republic is in Beta right now and players are blown away by the immersive story, dynamic combat and authentic Star Wars feel.” In regards to testing he said: “In the coming weeks we’ll invite hundreds of thousands of players into our biggest…
EA Downplays Old Republic Shortage Fears: Will You Get Your Copy?
Don’t have your pre-order copy of SWTOR yet? Are you worried about not being able to get a copy due to the shortage fears that have been going around? Well, you might not need to worry so much after all. While it’s true that EA said they would be rationing/limiting the sale of the game, they have reassured gamers that they are set on a very ambitious launch. “We’re using our beta test to inform us of what scale that we can handle. Our pre-order campaign is tailored towards how we’re going to do that.” EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau told investors. “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,” he…
SWTOR Release 5 Days before Christmas- a Genius Idea?
Now that we finally have a release date for SWTOR, people are talking about the choice of that date. With December 20th, 5 days before Christmas set for launch, could BioWare be onto something special here? Why did BioWare choose this date anyway? We know the launch date was of super importance when it comes to SWTOR but we almost never see blockbuster titles out so close to Christmas, or even in December at all. So what was EA thinking with this decision? The guys over at Mad Tang have a theory on this topic. A snippet: “It doesn’t matter when the game is released there will be a line out the door to pick up every copy. People are going to do whatever they have to to get a copy of this game. Nerds will fight other nerds during the last minute Christmas rush in epic battles to get…
BioWare Founders say “We make the decisions, not EA”
Many fans are critical of BioWare when it comes to certain inadequacies that blame on Electronic Arts. But the founders have a stern message for those doubters- they are still calling the shots on the games they make. “I always chuckle because we are EA, we’re BioWare — we’re both, and we still have huge autonomy in terms of what we do,” co-founder Greg Zeschuk recently told Eurogamer. BioWare founders say they make the decisions, not parent company, EA. They appear passionate about the fact that they still have a direct hand in the games that they are creating. There are some things that have changed, however. “Way, way back, years ago, we didn’t even consider those [commercial elements], we just made stuff,” Zeschuk explains. Point well taken. Back then, the commercial elements also did not matter so much. Video games were not such big business. The market was smaller…
BioWare Opens New Customer Service Center in Ireland
EA announced yesterday that they will be opening a new customer service center, this one in Ireland. EA Senior Vice President Ray Muzyka spoke at the inaugural event in Galway, Ireland said, “MMO launches are complex, and we are determined to set a new standard for a high quality, stable, smooth launch for our fans. Our new BioWare facility and team in Galway is critical to ensuring we deliver on that goal. We’ve got a solid base of people here already in Galway . . . we’re looking for more. From Ireland . . . from the rest of Europe to support our German and French customers . . . from all over the world. We want you to join us here at BioWare Ireland.” This will be a first for BioWare and it can mean big news for the company as well as for European gamers. This will be BioWare’s…
Investing In EA Could Be a Great Choice Right Now
There is good news for those who hold stock in EA and also for anyone considering investing in the company now. Many experts believe the benefits outweigh the risks to investing in Electronic Arts with big titles like SWTOR on the way. Seeking Alpha reports: Electronic Arts (ERTS) is on the verge of releasing potentially one of the best selling games of the year and possibly the decade. While there is no official release date set, Electronic Arts through its BioWare division has stated during their Q1 2012 Conference Call that it’s targeting the 2011 holiday season to release its upcoming massively multiplayer online role playing game [MMORPG] Star Wars: The Old Republic. You don’t even have to like video games to realize that this is a big move and that the stakes and the payouts could be high for getting in with the company now. The reasons this article…
Guild Alignment Begins- SWTOR News
In other news today, BioWare announced that official Guild Alignment begins on their news page. The important bits: “With Phase 2: Alignment, we are introducing new features which allow guilds to set their allegiance with other guilds in The Old Republic. Now a guild leader, along with members who have the proper permissions, can select up to three guilds as either Allies or Adversaries, depending on their faction affiliation. Qualifying guilds that are marked as Allies and Adversaries of other guilds will have the highest chance of being placed in the game together, allowing these guilds to coexist on the same server. Another feature being implemented with Phase 2 is the ability for guild leaders and members with the proper permissions to invite friends to join their guild via email. You can start recruiting new members today!” So there you have it. If you’re a guild owner like me,…
EA at Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference: SWTOR to Release in March Quarter?
Or is it? I love to keep up withwhat is happening at EA and with gaming in general. Since Eric Brown,CFO of Electronic Arts, is at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, Iwanted to listenin to the call to see if any important infomraiton was disclosed about EA,BioWare and of course, Star Wars: The Old Republic, a huge source of thefinances of EA right now. If investor financial calls are not your thing, you’velucked out because I took a listen and I will pass on the important bits toyou. The conference happened at 1:10P PT / 4:10P ET and containeda lot of the usual boring bits. I entertained myself messing around on Twitter a bit and waiting forgood parts. One of the most interesting questions was in regards toSWTOR: Q:Can you give any updates on how pre-orders and awareness level are trackingagainst your milestones and what are some of the factors…
SWTOR to Model WoW for Launch Strategy
The delay in SWTOR launch is based in part off of Blizzard’s launch of World of Warcraft. Gamasutra explains in an article with quotes from the Citi 2011 Tech Conference. SWTOR has an intended launch with a strong focus on the initial player base. They would rather limit this number and give better service to a smaller demographic than try to reach too many people at once, this diluting the experience overall for everyone. “”We’ve actually studied WoW pretty carefully,” CFO Eric Brown said at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference on Wednesday. “”We spent a lot of time studying the first twelve months or so of WoW, and just to be clear here, when they initially launched, they did not launch in dual geographies. They went North America only.”” Gamasutra covers more from Brown on the topic: “”We really want to make sure that the first group of users into…
EA changes Origin EULA
Gamers have been ticked off since the news got around that EA’s Origin basically contained spyware. GameSpot reports that EA has now changed the Original EULA. But is this enough for some people? According to the GameSpot report: “Earlier this week, Electronic Arts became a subject of controversy after customers took exception to the end-user license agreement in the publisher’s Origin downloadable game service. While EA did not return requests for comment at the time, it did amend the EULA in question in ways that may address some of the users’ concerns.” The current agreement now says that “EA would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it ever use spyware or install spyware on users’ machines. We and agents acting on our behalf do not share information that personally identifies you without your consent, except in rare instances where disclosure is required by law or to…