TOR lost 400k subscriptions since February, 1.3mil active subs right now

After releasing the game in more countries and various offers including free playtime, TORtanic is still sinking. Back in February it was announced it sold over 2 million copies.

The Elder Scrolls guys must be terrified:lol:

Well at least they're faring better than WAR and AoC.

The live EA Q4 investor conference call if anyone cares.

They're getting roasted over TOR's failure lol

Most MMOs dont retain their launch numbers, this isnt surprising

1.3mil is still ahuge number. Double or more of anything not named WoW.

lol

Most MMOs dont retain their launch numbers, this isnt surprising

wis3boi

I gotta agree here. I'm not sure why anyone think that this is surprising or a sign that SWTOR is failing. The conversion rate from free month to monthly subscriber is pretty low for most MMO's. They are still far and away above any other Western MMO except for WoW. If they are still losing large numbers half a year from now or if they are unable to stabilize their number over the next handful of months they might have a problem long term. But at this point, it doesn?t seem to be a big shock or sign of failure.

A chart of major MMO subscriptions (does not include TOR):

Weird how Age of Conan dropped like a brick. Warhammer did slightly better, at least it managed to brake the initial drop. Rift and especially LOTRO are doing surprisingly well.

1.3mil is still ahuge number. Double or more of anything not named WoW.

FPSfan1985

You'd be surprised.

What it didn't say was that the current number INCLUDES PEOPLE PLAYING THROUGH ANOTHER FREE MONTH. Just to clarify :)

And while 1,3 million isn't all that bad for a theme-park MMO a few months after launch, especially one so limited and without endgame like SWTOR, it certainly isn't very impressive when you remember this has the Star Wars name and over 200 million $ were spent making and advertising it...

With this rate of decline though, I can see this going F2P or semi-F2P (extended trial etc etc) before the end of the year.

I still don't get why people get so excited about a MMO losing subs. I mean TORtanic...really? Does it make you feel good inside to see another PC exclusive in a negative light?

I really don't get it...I want all pc games to do well even if I don't like the game.

But whatever.....

I still don't get why people get so excited about a MMO losing subs. I mean TORtanic...really? Does it make you feel good inside to see another PC exclusive in a negative light?

I really don't get it...I want all pc games to do well even if I don't like the game.

But whatever.....

BSC14

I still don't get why people get so excited about a MMO losing subs. I mean TORtanic...really? Does it make you feel good inside to see another PC exclusive in a negative light?

I really don't get it...I want all pc games to do well even if I don't like the game.

But whatever.....

BSC14

So? Most MMOs take a dive after the first few months. They stablize after 3-4 months and then stay pretty steady if the developer keeps releasing content.

Same happened with Rift and that game is still very active.

[QUOTE="BSC14"]

I still don't get why people get so excited about a MMO losing subs. I mean TORtanic...really? Does it make you feel good inside to see another PC exclusive in a negative light?

I really don't get it...I want all pc games to do well even if I don't like the game.

But whatever.....

timma25

The game is not crap though. I think they did a pretty decent job with it, it's just not as good as WoW and does not do anything really different than WoW either. But it's still a fun game and they put a lof of work into it.

If a game is total crap then that's one thing but just because it didn't save a baby from a burning building does not mean everyone needs to go all out into bashing and the PC platform nees as many decent exclusives as possible.

Most MMOs dont retain their launch numbers, this isnt surprising

wis3boi

WoW retained their launch numbers ;)

Die! die! die! die! die!

Well of course. Should've made KOTOR 3, not an MMO. *sigh*

So? Most MMOs take a dive after the first few months. They stablize after 3-4 months and then stay pretty steady if the developer keeps releasing content.

Same happened with Rift and that game is still very active.

Wasdie

This is not "most MMOs".

This is a creatively bankrupt, poorly executed and insanely expensive behemoth that arrived a time when the MMO market is changing. It benefits from a drought of new content in WoW and a lack of fresh competition - soon things will change. I know how it sounds but during the conference call they said they're not afraid of the competition because TOR is Star Wars. It's also not in their top 5 currently profitable games, but it's in the top 10. They also tried to spin the subscriptions drop as "the casual players have left the game and now we have the core players left".

This game needs 500k active subscriptions to remain profitable. EA's stock keeps sinking since TOR was released and today's conference call makes it even worse although it's the first year the company reported a profit since 2007. And they're going to fire 2000 people until September. To put things in perspective, half of Mythic's staff was fired in the first year after Warhammer's launch. This was followed by smaller layoffs until whoever was left there was merged with Bioware and helped ship TOR. Warhammer was a much smaller investition and it's much less expensive to maintain.

5 years of developement, Bioware, Star Wars, 200 millions budget and untold millions spent on marketing. Today's subscription figure is not what EA expected.

Isn't it sad that the current number reported today is 25% lower than the one reported on March 9 while including padding from promotions, free time and launches in new territories? Do you think they'll keep supporting it when they face such a drop? Making content is very expensive due to their idiotic focus on presentation. Perhaps it will end like WAR, rarely updated but still chugging along.

Also I hate having the last post on a page.

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

Most MMOs dont retain their launch numbers, this isnt surprising

Jacanuk

WoW retained their launch numbers ;)

Tortanic :lol:

A chart of major MMO subscriptions (does not include TOR):

Weird how Age of Conan dropped like a brick. Warhammer did slightly better, at least it managed to brake the initial drop. Rift and especially LOTRO are doing surprisingly well.

Baranga

LotrO has arguably the best method of subscription and free to play methods available. Download and play endlessly to max level for free, experience a lot of content, earn paid game content for free with achievements....or sub for 9.99 a month and get it all at once. I think TOR should adopt this method in the future.

Tortanic :lol:

jakes456

The hole in the hull is a feature! Everything works fine! This ship cannot sink! Everything is going to be abblblblghhhllllllllll

[QUOTE="jakes456"]

Tortanic :lol:

QQabitmoar

The hole in the hull is a feature! Everything works fine! This ship cannot sink! Everything is going to be abblblblghhhllllllllll

The hole is clogged with Hutts though :lol:

So? Most MMOs take a dive after the first few months. They stablize after 3-4 months and then stay pretty steady if the developer keeps releasing content.

Same happened with Rift and that game is still very active.

Wasdie

This isn't just one of the "most mmo's." This is big budget, BioWare developed, Star Wars Mega licensed, Star Wars The Old Republic. I'd say it's a failure and EA/BioWare would admittingly agree.

Sadly, I contributed $60 to this so that doesn't say much about me either..

[QUOTE="Jacanuk"]

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

Most MMOs dont retain their launch numbers, this isnt surprising

wis3boi

WoW retained their launch numbers ;)

Dammit, this thread makes me want to play Tor again. :P

Dammit, this thread makes me want to play Tor again. :P

Cruxis27

1.3mil is still ahuge number. Double or more of anything not named WoW.

FPSfan1985

Keep in mind that EA is clever at bloating numbers. They made it a priority in the past months to launch the game in 38 international countries, and they just gave out a free month. I'm guessing the amount of US players with recurring subcriptions is very, very low - a mere fraction of the 1.3 million.

Many US servers are now "ghost towns" where there is a single digit number of players on the fleet (capital city) during PRIME TIME. It has become a self-exacerbating problem as loyal players are leaving due to low populations on their servers. With Bioware unable to swallow their pride and merge servers, and too slow to offer transfers, players are leaving in landslides, as they are unwilling to reroll, as their legacy level is bound to the server.

I've been playing the game since early access, and my guild disintegrated after the dissapointing last major content update. At the end of the day it is just another themepark MMO - a fun ride until you reach endgame. Once you hit endgame, they just dangle a new piece of gear in front of you, a piece of gear that will be completely invalidated with the next patch.

I don't ever think they're gonna survive by make it F2P since the voice actor is gonna be very expensive and if they use bad voice actor then I don't think anyone will watch the cutscreen. Full voice is what make TOR a little diffirent from other MMORPG so if its gone then I don't really see whats left to stay and play.

I've never been one to gloat but I took so much crap on these boards over my beta experiences and for having the audacity to call the game mediocre that I have to admit, I do get a little bit of satisfaction from this news. :D

1.3mil is still ahuge number. Double or more of anything not named WoW.

FPSfan1985

[QUOTE="FPSfan1985"]

1.3mil is still ahuge number. Double or more of anything not named WoW.

Prexxus

Still a lot more than the doomsayers were saying it would be. 1.3 million from 1.7 million is about a 25 percent drop, a 75 percent retention rate is by no means a horrible thing, and it already shows that the "decline" is already slowing down. WoW recently suffered a 25 percent drop in subscribers and fanboys and other posters defended WoW using this very logic.Brean24

The game sold at least 2.4 million. 54% of those people still play.

Edit: a lot of them are in the free month lol

Related: While discussing the importance of TOR, John Riccitiello put upcoming Battlefield, SimCity, Tiger Woods, and Madden titles ahead of Star Wars.

I've never played the game so my opinion will be based on guesses, but one of my friends played it pretty heavily and it didn't take him long to reach the max level, I don't play MMOs at all but doesn't it usually take a very long time to reach the level cap? My friend did it within a month or two since he started playing, whilst working and being a uni student. Is their simply not enough in the game to keep people around for long?

Nothing wrong with 1.3 million subscribers.

The dip is more likely to be because of the lack of endgame content rather than it being a "bad" game overall.

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

Most MMOs dont retain their launch numbers, this isnt surprising

Jacanuk

WoW retained their launch numbers ;)

Lots of MMORPGs to go up against these days, not to mention the F2P market aswell.

With Diablo release approaching and Tera out, they may go down a little bit further. Also, started playing Rift and it is pretty addicting so far.

With Diablo release approaching and Tera out, they may go down a little bit further. Also, started playing Rift and it is pretty addicting so far.

lild1425

Diablo isn't an MMO lol

wow killer...

April 23: BioWare claim that subscriber numbers haven?t dropped, but concurrent users at peak times have.

May 2(!!!): ?Although the internet loves to pronounce the doom of all things, what we?re seeing is a huge increase in activity with [update] 1.2 as people return to see all of the new content.?

And during yesterday's conference:

The Old Republic is in EA's top 10 franchises in terms of profitability, "but it's not in our top five". "So it's a business contributor, while important, is not as important as Medal of Honor or Battlefield or FIFA or Madden or The Sims or SimCity, but it's more important than Tiger Woods PGA Golf."

"We are cognizant of competitors coming, but none of them quite fit in the same competitive category as Star Wars," he said. "They're just different fantasies. They're not the Star Wars fantasy. It's not the big expansive universe that appeals to so many people worldwide.