Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Continues Meteoric Rise in Becoming the Latest Online Phenomenon (
http://news.ea.com/portal/site/ea/template.PAGE/menuitem.be8f8aafa1f7201d1abbba10f6908a0c/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20120201007161&newsLang=en)
February 01, 2012 06:28 PM Eastern Time
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Continues Meteoric Rise in Becoming the Latest Online Phenomenon
Growing Player Base, High Quality Service and New Game Updates Drive Successful Start for the Critically-Acclaimed MMO from BioWare and LucasArts
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just six weeks after launching one of the most anticipated videogames of all time, BioWare™, a Label of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), is continuing to set new standards in online games with Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Already the fastest growing subscription MMO ever, Star Wars: The Old Republic has sold over 2 million copies, with a thriving base of over 1.7 million active subscribers, as gamers around the world have immersed themselves in the story-driven, online Star Wars universe from BioWare and LucasArts. Helping drive The Old Republic’s early success has been the quality and reliability of the game’s service, with servers being available for more than 99.5% of the time outside of scheduled maintenance. BioWare has also delivered on the promise of continually adding new content by releasing Rise of the Rakghouls, which added new, higher level group content, less than 30 days after launch. The next game update, featuring even more content, new game systems and additional guild features, is scheduled to be released in Spring 2012.
“We’re truly honored and humbled by the incredibly strong support from our players who are enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA’s BioWare Label. “Our entire team worked very hard over the holidays to deliver a smooth experience at launch, and the resulting response to the game from our fans and critics has been exceptionally gratifying.”
Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of the BioWare MMO Business Unit: “But we’re not resting! We’re actively listening to our community for ongoing feedback to help us ensure the game and service continue to improve, and we’re working to deliver spectacular new high quality content on a regular cadence going forward.”
Player engagement for Star Wars: The Old Republic has not slowed since launch, as the community achieved the following incredible gameplay milestones in just over one month since launch:
Over 239 million in-game hours, or over 332,000 months and over 27,000 years of in-game time
Over 20 billion NPCs killed
Over 148 billion credits spent
Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most critically acclaimed MMOs of all time, having won MSNBC’s “Game of the Year” award, “Editor’s Choice” awards from IGN, PC Gamer and “Best MMO of 2011” awards from Game Informer, Gamespy.com, Massively, Ten Ton Hammer and more. The game is set thousands of years before the classic Star Wars movies, with the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire locked in the middle of an epic, galactic war. Players choose one of eight iconic Star Wars character classes, including the Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, Trooper, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter and Imperial Agent, becoming the hero or villain of their own personal Star Wars saga.
Included with the purchase of every copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic is 30 days of access to the game, after which players can continue to play through subscribing* at either $14.99 per month, $41.97 for 3 months ($13.99 per month), or $77.94 for six months ($12.99 per month).
For more information on Star Wars: The Old Republic, please visit
www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com), follow the game on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/swtor) or “Like” Star Wars: The Old Republic on Facebook at
http://facebook.com/starwarstheoldrepublic).
*Subscription pricing in the United Kingdom will be Ј8.99 per month, Ј25.17 for three months (Ј8.39 per month) or Ј46.14 for six months (Ј7.69 per month). Subscription pricing in Europe will be Ђ12.99 per month, Ђ35.97 for three months (Ђ11.99 per month) or Ђ65.94 for six months (Ђ10.99 per month).
About Lucasfilm Ltd.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the world's leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, it is a privately held, fully-integrated entertainment company. In addition to its motion-picture and television production operations, the company's global activities include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual-effects and audio post-production; LucasArts, a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide; Lucas Licensing, which manages the global merchandising activities for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties; Lucasfilm Animation, which is currently producing content for film and television, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a CG-animated half-hour television series; and Lucas Online creates Internet-based content for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties and businesses. Additionally, Lucasfilm Singapore produces digital animated content for film and television, as well as visual effects for feature films and multi-platform games. Lucasfilm's motion-picture productions include three of the 20 biggest box-office hits of all time and have received 19 Oscars and more than 60 Academy Award nominations. Lucasfilm's television projects have won 12 Emmy Awards. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet. Based in San Francisco, Calif., as well as on the Internet at
www.lucasarts.com), LucasArts was created in 1982 by George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multifaceted entertainment company.
About BioWare
The BioWare Label is a division of EA which crafts high quality multiplatform role-playing, MMO and strategy games, focused on emotionally engaging, rich stories with unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world's most critically acclaimed titles and franchises, including Baldur's Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™, Mass Effect™ and Dragon Age™. BioWare currently operates in eight locations across the world, including Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec, Canada), Austin (Texas), Fairfax (Virginia), San Francisco (California), Los Angeles (California), Sacramento (California) and Galway (Ireland).
In 2008, BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts, a leading global interactive entertainment publisher. In 2011 EA created the BioWare Label, alongside EA Games, EA SPORTS™ and EA Play. For more information on BioWare, visit
www.bioware.com), or follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/bioware). To join the millions of fans already registered with the BioWare community, go to
http://social.bioware.com).
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company’s game franchises are offered as both packaged goods products and online services delivered through Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 100 million registered players and operates in 75 countries.
In fiscal 2011, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.6 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speed™, Battlefield, and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available at
http://info.ea.com).
LucasArts, the LucasArts logo, STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks in the United States and/or in other countries of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © 2012 Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. or Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. BioWare, and the BioWare logo are trademarks of EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. EA and the EA logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts
Electronic Arts
Alana Logan, 512-287-7732
Publicist
alogan@bioware.com
Andrew Wong, 650-628-2781
Director of PR
anwong@ea.com
I find it interesting how these press releases have an about section for Lucasfilm instead of LucasArts. In any event, only time will tell as far as BioWare retaining their 1.7 million TOR subscribers or even growing their subscriber base. I know I'm planning on subbing for a year, possibly longer.