14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Electronic Arts has revealed that the subscription numbers for its MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic have dropped to just 1.3 million people, down from a high of 1.7 million during the month of February.
It seems that the number was mainly influenced by the gamers who used their initial 30-day free play period that comes with the boxed copy of The Old Republic and then decided that the experience was not worth the monthly price that EA asked for the game.
Ken Barker, who is the chief financial officer at Electronic Arts, has told investors during an earnings call that, “The substantial portion of the decrease was due to lower numbers of trial players, upping the percentage of paying subscribers.”
Frank Gibeau, who is the president of the EA Labels division, added, “Some of those casual customers have gone through a billing cycle and have decided not to subscribe to the game.”
John Riccitiello, the chief executive officer at Electronic Arts, has added that Star Wars: The Old Republic was at the moment as important to his company as the Madden franchise or the Sims universe and more important than the gold simulation Tiger Woods PGA Tour.
Until the release of new financial information, developer BioWare was adamant that Star Wars: The Old Republic was not losing players, with leading executives saying that the MMO was only seeing a smaller number of players logging in to the game during peak hours.
The team has already pledged to deliver more in-game events in order to keep players occupied while also working on more content for the Player versus Player side of the MMO and for those players who have already hit the level cap.
Electronic Arts has revealed better than expected financial results, mainly linked to a solid increase of its digitally distributed titles, which include the MMO.