BioWare has stated that subscriber numbers for its MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic have not dropped, according to a report on PC Gamer.
But while BioWare lead writer Daniel Erickson said subscriptions are not dropping, he explained that the number of concurrent users at peak times has declined. Those light server populations may lead to server mergers, he said.
"Nothing is off the table when it comes to making sure our communities are strong and active on each server," he explained. He said that BioWare is currently doing "anything and everything" to increase concurrent user numbers.
Analyst group Cowen and Company said in a report last week that it believes player subscriptions for The Old Republic have already begun to decline, just months after the game launched.
Cowen's Doug Creutz estimates that subscriber numbers for the game peaked at 1.7 million in February, and that by the end of the current fiscal year in March 2013, the game will have around 1.25 million subscribers.
Cody,
I am sure your are correct for some folks. But, I know several guild players that dropped thier sub due to lack of "end-game activity" and not enough content announced in the currenlty upcoming patches. Playing the game you see way less folks. Reading the forums (Official & other) you see many vocal about leaving. Guild Wars 2 has some leading players away but mostly its a lack of activities in a very solo friendly MMO. The "4th Pillar" is just not strong enough in todays market to keep concurrent subs. Give the "unwashed something new to do".
It's interesting reading how players now blame or wish for lower numbers of playing in their mmos.
Instead of just enjoying a game or unsubscribing and moving on, now we have to hope a game fails and shuts down. Apparently thats the only way we as consumers can justify our hatred for said game...when nobody else likes it either.
There isn't a happy medium, people either complain their servers are empty or they complain they can't log in without queuing.
For a MMO that has a pretty high average age (25+ from what I've met online), university finals sure doesn't apply. What is true is that very few people are actually leveling up new characters, which means the influx of new players or rerolls is quite low. Durin peak hours the stations are buzzing with people, though.
Anyways, people are spoiled by WoW numbers, so they don't understand how incredibly profitable 1.2 million subs are.
I know that's why I haven't been playing games lately.
I am sure your are correct for some folks. But, I know several guild players that dropped thier sub due to lack of "end-game activity" and not enough content announced in the currenlty upcoming patches. Playing the game you see way less folks. Reading the forums (Official & other) you see many vocal about leaving. Guild Wars 2 has some leading players away but mostly its a lack of activities in a very solo friendly MMO. The "4th Pillar" is just not strong enough in todays market to keep concurrent subs. Give the "unwashed something new to do".
Instead of just enjoying a game or unsubscribing and moving on, now we have to hope a game fails and shuts down. Apparently thats the only way we as consumers can justify our hatred for said game...when nobody else likes it either.
There isn't a happy medium, people either complain their servers are empty or they complain they can't log in without queuing.
Anyways, people are spoiled by WoW numbers, so they don't understand how incredibly profitable 1.2 million subs are.
Just don't lie, come out and say our numbers dropped, but we ware working hard to get content and bring those subscribers back.