We haven’t had a story in awhile about how SWTOR is inevitably doomed, but fortunately an analyst has stepped into the breath with a breathtaking report that “EA investors are wary.”
But how does he know? Maybe he’s spoken to a few in the games industry, but we don’t know how he knows. So he’s probably just guessing based on the fact that everyone knows SWTOR has cost a lot of money and is a risky endeavour. In fact, anyone who knows anything about the game, even staunch fans who are looking forwards to paying for long subscriptions, are nervous about how well it will do.
I do sometimes wish people would pay me for stating the obvious.
In more upbeat news, MCV (which is a reputable trade mag) got the tip from “development sources” that SWTOR is due for release this September. If that is the case, expect to see official announcements about beta in a month or two. I’m assuming there’s some kind of beta testing going on at the moment.
I think that assuming it’s reasonably polished, September is a good timeframe. It may clash with a Blizzard patch but crucially, it would get in before the October/ November release rush and catch college students after the summer holiday. I am wavering now on my desire to play a smuggler, on the grounds that everyone else probably will too. Plus the last trailer for the trooper showed a female character in heavy armour, and any regular readers will know I’m a sucker for that!
Welcome to Spinksville! 
It’s in closed beta at the moment, I know cos someone I know is playing it ;p
I don’t know who they are but I hate them already 🙂
Me too! And I told them off for even telling me. So honour is saved.
THis would be interesting timing, the original March release date would have meant I’d be dealing with new baby and TOR, not a good combo, but September means just at the part my wife and I may be getting full night’s sleep again (MAY) TOR will come out…. damn.
TBH I’m glad to hear it – not another unfinished MMO released prematurely and destined to certain death, please.
Polish is everything to make MMOs successful nowadays; if you can afford to wait a little longer, do it. obviously not all companies have this option which is a very sad dilemma.
I can see why investors would be wary. They know nothing about video games, they can’t see how it is different than WAR or APB. APB was a huge disaster, and while WAR was profitable in its first year, it was a disappointment, and would have been a huge loss had it cost what SWTOR is costing. I think SWTOR will make money, but there’s certainly no investor’s data I could point to which would back that up.
I’m beginning to think the “doom and gloom” surrounding SWTOR has actually given people expectations that are too low. When the hype first started, it seemed clear to me that many would hate the game and declare it a failure no matter what. Now, people are predicting such a huge flop, I think it will exceed their current expectations.
“SWTOR has cost alot of money”.
Just want to correct that, “SWTOR IS costing alot money”. The game is not done, and every month the game is not live it IS costing money…more money. So if someone said a year ago SWTOR were costing “$100 million” , chances are it’s already more than that….
That alone would make -any- investory wary, in any industry, it’s economics 101. So of course EA investors would be weary, not because of the game’s quality but because it’s taking so long….that’s how investors work. You need to be quite a powerful development firm to keep these rabit investors at bay .
So far only Blizzard had the luxury of saying “it is done when it is done” . Bioware have a solid reputation in the single player department, and they were releasing TWO games per year that are blockbusters . So investors are happy, now comes SWTOR and it probably looks like one gigantic black hole to them…
Aye, even clashing with a Blizzard patch could spell doom. But then again, with all the dissent I hear of Cataclysm, I wonder if that’s the case. Between Rift coming out this year already(and it has people greatly interested), and ToR, it’s two games that have had quite a bit of interest. Never thought I’d say this but maybe not Rift and ToR separately, but Rift and ToR TOGETHER might actually pose something that might resemble more than a guppy in the water to WoW. Maybe like, a medium sized fish. Or small-medium. (I say this now but whenever that happens WoW pulls something else out of its hat to keep it going.)
Trooper looks neat on account of it being an armored RANGED class, and that’s quite original.