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Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare’s long awaited MMO, has seen its release window slip yet again, as Electronic Arts announced during its latest report to investors that the Old Republic will now “ship in calendar 2011, but after the close of FY11.” Grab those financial calendar breakdowns, and join me in the next graph, won't you?
EA's 2011 fiscal year ends March 31, putting SWTOR's release firmly in the second half of 2011, which means last week’s September release rumors might end up being true after all. It would also be surprisingly close to EA's release window prediction from last year of spring 2011.
During its investor call, EA downplayed speculations regarding exactly how much SWTOR has cost to make, but the publisher did admit it is “incurring significant development costs.” Leading estimates have the price tag somewhere between $100 and $300 million, which EA CEO John Riccitiello made a point to say is “higher than anything we have ever put in place."
As far as getting some of that money back, Riccitiello said EA would be happy with 1 million subscribers, but it would only need around 500,000 to be profitable. Whether that estimate will be enough to quell the doubts of investors isn’t clear just yet.
[Article edited to reflect changes made to reported FY11 schedule for EA.]
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koolboricua
waiting just waiting
alaskanhybrid
Great thatz gives me time for in the future to get some cheap EVGA GTX 460's(2 then 3) for the computer I plan to build for the first time.
kanabo master
THIS GAME IS A BIG OL, meh......lol
Wildcard273
@Gamewizcreations - Thank you, I was thinking the same thing as I read your post. Sounds like the game is still on track for a mid-year launch.
"Stay on target..." - Gold Leader, Star Wars
L.A.Hague
Look at Gamewizcreations. He is completely right.
Almost this entire article is speculation.
Bioware is currently standing firm on Spring of 2011, and this just means the game will be between April 1 - December 31. And as for it being in the second half of the year because of this announcement... Putting the game after April doesn't make it halfway through the year.
FAIL.
If you listen to the call they also say beta will be rolling out in the next months. I doubt they'd start up the beta in March and not release until September.
i<3masseffect
Always been a huge star wars fan and cant wait for this one! I would personally have sooner rather then later but as long as its good ill be happy. And wanting 1 million subscibers, well i dobut that will be a problem for them.
hoof_hearted4
for all of you complaining about the info he has wrong or whatever it may be. it only takes one person to say it, there doesnt need to be 10 posts all complaining about the same thing. if all your going to do is bitch then just shut up and stay off the comments section.
Gamewizcreations
THANK YOU for updating your article. There is so much mis-information out there is getting really annoying.
However, you still still injecting too much opinion in this article. The release window from EA is April 1st - December 31st 2011, with Bioware not changing their stance on the Spring 2011 target window. NOTHING has changed, and no delay has occurred.
Jay6127
Just watched the Family Guy "It's a Trap!" Again. Maybe it will help me pass the time until the dang game ships.
Jmbtoo123
Hopefully the pressure from the investors isn't going to make them put out another unfinished MMO.... Don't get me wrong i want this bad, but not at the cost of it failing. If it is going to compete with WoW it is going to need to be great upon release, not months after release.
If we waited this long already what is a few more months
Akomacksu
What is this I don't even...
Just don't even post anything next time, so way off.
XwingVmanX
Gives me more time to save up for a new computer.
vvaves
Misguided you are Jake, Full of useless information are you..
TheOneTSum
As long as it is awesome, I will wait. I'd rather have a complete game than a "slipshod, press for release, piece of crap to get all the cash monies!" If this game is all it's supposed to be it needs it's time plain and simple. Star wars fans should be use to waiting anyway, we just need to remind ourselves how long it took to lose our virginities. I think waiting a few months is a meager task.
Rurik1547
Two people already pointed this out, their fiscal year actually ends March 31st. They said it will be out in their 2012 fiscal year/2011 calendar year. So the time frame they gave us, which is to cover their butts if they actually did have to push the release back, is between April 1st and December 31st. So far the release window is still Spring 2011 and Bioware has yet to say otherwise.
31stroom
do your research silly Jake. Just because dear wiki said to you that US gov fiscal year ends in september doesn't mean it applies to EA. Dear lord I'm sick of those 'wannabe journalists' posting crap about this game all over the internet.
Gamewizcreations
Oh my dear god... When are you "journalists" going to actually do some research before posting this crap?
EA'S FISCAL YEAR STARTS APRILS 1ST, 2011.
You know what that means? NOTHING HAS CHANGED. EA confirmed in December during that conference call that they have a release window of April 1st - December 31st... THIS IS THE SAME THING THEY JUST SAID YESTERDAY.
Bioware's target release date is Q1 of EA's fiscal year. THIS DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH WHAT EA IS SAYING.
My god people... Think before you type.
frictionman
It sounds like they need 500k players to break even on a 100 million dollar investment... how expensive is this game going to be? That number implies each player would pay at least 200 dollars. I am sure that is broken up over time, but still. I am calling bs on the 500k stat
Venida
EA's fiscal year end is at the end of March, not September.
jonbond
Hey Jake,
BioWare's Fiscal Year ends in March 2011, might make your article more accurate.
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