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Comic for: November 8th, 2011
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Profitable: "Star Wars: the Old Republic"
Posted: Tuesday November 8th, 2011 by

Okay here's exactly what Heiko Hubertz, CEO of Bigpoint.Com, said during his keynote at the London Games Conference, "With micro-transactions and longer lifetime maybe I see a chance for this game but I don’t think that EA or BioWare will be profitable with this game. Ever." [more info] Well, quite frankly, I think that's just silly talk coming from a guy whose experience is nestled firmly into the neck of Free-to-Play MMOs.

Let me be clear here, I don't think monthly subscriptions will work much longer. I honestly believe that SWtOR and maybe the game from 38 will be the last in the breed with a chance at actual success in the subscription-based model. Every other developer out there needs to take a deep look at the direction that MMO and Social gaming communities are taking the industry. This is the part where I agree with Hubertz, companies can't sink hundreds of millions of dollars into development and expect to be profitable unless their game has a long life time. And there are a LOT of companies out there that can tell you exactly how their game failed in the face of trying to convince their players that their game was worth $10-$15 a month.

But to say SWtOR will never be profitable... I just don't think that's accurate at all. I haven't played it, but I have the feeling that this game is going to FINALLY give players what they want out of a persistent online Star Wars game.

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I've still got room for a few more commissions if anyone else is interested in squeezing them in before Christmas.



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