Since Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) changed its subscription model to Free-to-Play (F2P), a lot of opinions were raised about whether it was the right thing to do or not. Some quickly labeled SWToR as a failure that didn’t live up to the hype , while others saw this as a necesary change that helps the game’s long-term growth. Whether this change was successful or not remains to be seen, however first indications as reported by James Ohlen and the recent EA investor’s call are positive. Free-to-play might not be such a bad thing after all! A new article over at Gamasutra.com, argues that non-paying players, actually help the growth of such games. The author of the article cites three major reasons for opening up a game to freeloaders. Among other things F2P players help bring in other new players that eventually will turn into subscribers, they show their appreciation…
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SWTOR- What Does F2P Mean?
Everyone is talking about SWTOR going free to play. It seems everyone has a theory and an opinion on the topic and whether or not it’s a good thing for BioWare/EA. The big question seems to be whether or not the F2P model is chosen because SWTOR flopped on release or just because it makes more sense and is better for the current economic market in the world today. MMORPG.com had a few words from Richard Aihoshi on the topic. In addition to this, they did a poll with some other experts in the field: Hendrik Klindworth is the Founder and Managing Director of InnoGames (Forge of Empires, Grepolis et al) Jay Choi is the Chief Operations Officer at Gravity Interactive(Ragnarok Online, Dragon Saga et al) Jungsoo Lee is the Vice President of Live Development atSG Interactive (formerly Ntreev; Pangya Golf, Trickster Online et al) Flaviio Daneil Caracasis the Chief Marketing Officer at Rock Hippo Productions (Brawl Busters, MicroVolts) Here…
SWTOR Could Attract 50M Monthly Players with F2P Model says Pachter
We all know that SWTOR going free to play is big news. But what we don’t know yet is just how big it might be for the game itself. I personally know a lot of people who say they will play if it goes free now it is. Star Wars: The Old Republic could attract up to 50m monthly players says Wedbush! This could be very good news for the company which has been suffering a stock loss since November. Investors want to see some results and they expected a lot from this game so the new model may be just what is needed to get numbers back in the positive direction they want to see again. Michael Pachter, industry analyst for Wedbush says: “We remain incorrigibly positive on the EA story. Despite a relatively low number of packaged good releases this year, we expect EA to grow revenue and…
Play free to level 15 coming July 10th
SWTOR’s Facebook page updated their timeline cover photo to this today. No statements form the official website yet, but below image speaks for it self: We will update this post as we learn more.