EA posts

The Daily Grind: How well do you think SWTOR will do?

by Kyle Horner Mar 20th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: New titles, The Daily Grind, Star Wars: The Old Republic

We're not very surprised to hear that Electronic Arts is expecting a heaping ton of subscribers for Star Wars: The Old Republic. After all, we're talking about an MMO based in the beloved Star Wars universe, made by BioWare and set during the Old Republic era popularized by the developer's hit game, Knights of the Old Republic.

There's still the mystery of Star Wars: The Old Republic's business model to consider. A blended system seems possible, but at this point there's no solid evidence for any one particular system. But is two million a bit too much, you think? Or perhaps you think it's not enough. Whatever you do think the success level of the game is going to be, we're curious to read everyone's thoughts on the topic.

Tags: bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, ea, electronic-arts, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, mmo-discussion, mmo-hot-topics, mmo-issues, mmo-topics, mmorpg-discussion, mmorpg-hot-topics, mmorpg-topics, star-wars-game, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-mmorpg, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, tdg, the-daily-grind, the-old-republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic's 'heady' sneak peek at character customization

by Kyle Horner Mar 19th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

As you can see from the image above, this week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Fan Friday brings us a peek at some of the customization options for character heads. There's also another work-in-progress video, this time of the Force Lightning powers as used by the Sith Inquisitor. The game continues to look better at a very consistent rate. So much so, that we wouldn't be too surprised if BioWare has some really exciting stuff to show off at E3 2010.

Moving back into the now, this week's fan art highlight is by community member Hazaz who's got some really great stuff that we think is worth checking out. However, this "Short History of the Sith for Newbies" guide on the official forums is a recommended read for any Star Wars fan, regardless of their interest in the game. But tread carefully or you may lose your entire weekend -- or a few hours, depending on your reading speed -- to the uncaring black depths that is Star Wars lore.

Tags: bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, e3, e3-2010, e310, ea, electronic-arts, fan-friday, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, sith-guide, sith-history, sith-inquisitor, star-wars-game, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-mmorpg, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, the-old-republic

Anti-Aliased: Is SWTOR worth 2 million users

by Seraphina Brennan Mar 19th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased, Star Wars: The Old Republic

So, some big news out of the Electronic Arts/BioWare camp today -- it's going to take one million subscribers to break even on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and EA is shooting for two million subscribers on the game. Those are some pretty intense numbers for a game, but when you're sinking as much money into a project as they're sinking into SWTOR, those are the numbers you need.

But, are they realistic numbers? This isn't the first time EA poured their heart and soul into a MMO, only to find that the subscriptions weren't to their liking. Then again, when you're dealing with a well known IP and an already successful RPG developer who knows how to handle said IP, you might just have the recipe for a subscriber explosion.

So that's this week's question -- Is SWTOR worth two million users?

Tags: 2-million-players, anti-aliased, bioware, bioware-mmo, business, ea, featured, gameplay, intellectual-property, ip, lucasarts, marketing, opinion, star-wars-the-old-republic, subscribers, swtor

BioWare and EA expect 2+ million subs, potential pricing model 'twists'

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 19th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

As if the idea of 100% voiced dialogue trees wasn't ambitious enough in an MMO property, word has now come out that EA and BioWare are expecting to have two million subscriptions for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In a genre where only one game has ever exceeded two million subscribers at $15 per month, that's a very high standard to put yourself up against. There again, we are talking about Star Wars, beloved by geeks the world over. We're also talking about BioWare, who have blown many gamers away with the awesomeness of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins.

The other thing that gives us pause is the recent discussion in regards to some "potential pricing twists" that Dr. Ray Muzyka of BioWare mentioned while talking to the folks at Kotaku. While subscriptions are being mentioned, others have noticed some indications for microtransactions as well. Whether we're looking at a blended model like Champions Online, more the traditional sub with less-often used macrotransactions like World of Warcraft, or something else altogether remains to be seen. In any event, it's certainly going to be interesting to watch whether or not Star Wars: The Old Republic will be able to retain the subscriber numbers they hope to.

Tags: bioware, ea, microtransaction, microtransactions, pricing-plans, Ray-Muzyka, star-wars-the-old-republic, subscription, swtor

Need for Speed World releases new art and trailer

by Rubi Bayer Mar 16th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Screenshots, Trailers, New titles, News items, Need for Speed World

Need for Speed World is the upcoming MMO from EA games, and while things on that front have been fairly quiet, we have a feeling that's about to change. This morning EA released a new game trailer, a handful of screenshots, and box art, and so far we like what we see.

The trailer is full of pretty graphics, fast cars, and destruction of public property -- what's not to love? (We particularly enjoyed the fleet of cars blowing past a 45 MPH sign at considerably more than 45 MPH.) You can work with or against other players, racing as a team or singly, and the game also promises "epic online pursuits," depicting a car chase with police cars that are presumably NPCs.

Of course, a game is much more than looks -- in the end, it all comes down to how well it's is done. Follow along after the jump for a peek at the trailer. Then, if you're interested in a firsthand look, Need for Speed World is accepting beta applications now, so head over to the official site to try it out for yourself.

Gallery: Need for Speed World

Tags: EA, ea-games, need-for-speed, need-for-speed-mmo, need-for-speed-world, Need-For-Speed-World-Online

EA: SWTOR is our largest project

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic may or may not live up to its advance billing as a potential World of Warcraft competitor. If it doesn't, it won't be for lack of a budget, according to a statement given by Electronic Arts' chief financial officer Eric Brown yesterday.

While meeting with Wedbush Morgan Securities in New York, Brown characterized the forthcoming Star Wars MMORPG as the "largest ever development project, period, in the history of the company." Brown declined to give specific financial details, but it's clear that EA and Bioware aren't leaving much to chance when it comes to spending money on development.

According to Eurogamer, Brown went on to discuss the estimated costs of bringing Blizzard's World of Warcraft to market back in 2004, and noted that the lifetime development costs likely topped $100 million "to actually ship it and obviously then there's maintenance subsequent to ship and expansion packs."

Tags: bioware, bioware-mmo, ea, electronic-arts, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, the-old-republic

GDC10: Massively's day 1 roundup

by Jef Reahard Mar 10th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, Fallen Earth, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Sword of the New World, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, MMORTS, DC Universe Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Taikodom

Massively staffers descended on GDC 2010 yesterday like a horde of....well, Horde. Our intrepid reporters are slaving away with microphones, tape recorders, and keyboards in hand to make sure you get all the latest MMORPG tidbits directly from the folks making the games.

We'll be bringing you a ton of content over the next few days, so fear not if your favorite forthcoming game hasn't received the red carpet treatment. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled throughout the remainder of the week, and in case you missed it, here's a brief rundown of yesterday's coverage.

Can't get enough of our GDC 2010 coverage? Check out our Sword of the New World GDC 2010 gallery below, and be sure to return throughout the week as we continue to bring you all the latest on your favorite games and developers.

Gallery: GDC10: Sword of the New World

Tags: battlestar-galactica, breaking, copernicus, EA, fallen-earth, ffxiv, gdc-2010, sword-of-the-new-world, taikodom

GDC10: Copernicus' Project Mercury being published by EA

by Justin Olivetti Mar 9th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Events, real-world

If you have been eagerly awaiting news on the top-secret Copernicus over at 38 Studios, you'll be pleased to hear that 38 Studios broke the silence today. "Project Mercury," a single-player title set in the Copernicus universe, will be coming to the PC, XBox 360 and PS3. 38 Studios signed a publishing deal with EA to bring the game to market.

"Project Mercury" is described as "an epic single-player role-playing game," and is being developed by 38 Studios-owned Big Huge Games under the guiding hand of Ken Rolston (Morrowind and Oblivion). This will be the first Copernicus project launched by Curt Schilling's team after years of anticipation and heavy speculation. As NASA's Project Mercury set out to test the boundaries of space by putting a man into orbit, "Project Mercury" looks to be testing the waters of single-player RPGs before diving into the realm of MMOs, similar to the approach of fan-favorite Torchlight.

Stay tuned to Massively, as we meet with Copernicus' R. A. Salvatore later this week at GDC to pick his brain.

Tags: 38-studios, 38-studios-copernicus, 38-studios-project-mercury, Big-Huge-Games, copernicus, curt-schilling, EA, gdc-2010, ken-rolston, project-mercury, r.a.-salvatore, ra-stalvatore, stalvator

The Digital Continuum: The importance of involvement

by Kyle Horner Mar 8th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

There's something to be said about feeling like you're fully engaged by an MMO. By "fully engaged" I don't mean that an MMO should be incredibly challenging. I also don't mean that it should "feel immersive" via sandbox or any other design philosophy.

What I mean is that -- and this is obviously just my opinion -- a game should do its very best to make sure the player is always instantly, nearly and eventually involved. I know that sounds confusing, but let me explain before you start attempting to mail me lettuce so that I can pay a friend to throw it at me.

Tags: activision, activision-blizzard, bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, blizzard, ea, electronic-arts, featured, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, opinion, star-wars-game, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-mmorpg, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, the-digital-continuum, the-old-republic, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Daily Grind: GDC10 predictions?

by Kyle Horner Mar 8th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Events, real-world, New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind

With GDC 2010 officially beginning tomorrow, March 9th, we'd like to hear your MMO predictions. And remember, the wilder the better. Although, if you've got some inside info, we're always happy to receive hints via our contact form.

Here are some of our predictions, see if you can figure out the wild crazy ones:

Red 5 Studios minimally reveals the name of their first title.
BioWare attends, but Star Wars: The Old Republic maintains a low presence.
Realtime Worlds will be there showing off something awesome about All Points Bulletin. This particular blogger will obsess over not attending and missing out on seeing the game again.
Massively Editor Sera Brennan will be dared and subsequently sing a most heinously embarrassing song. She'll later regret these events, as the very performance of said song will delay, at minimum, five MMOs set to release sometime within the next 24 months.

Think you can do better? We agree, but would like to see proof, mind you.

Tags: all-points-bulletin, all-points-bulletin-game, apb-ea, apb-game, bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, ea, ea-all-points-bulletin, ea-apb, ea-games, electronic-arts, electronic-arts-all-points-bulletin, gdc-2010, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, opinion, red-5, red-5-studios, star-wars-game, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-mmorpg, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, the-daily-grind, the-old-republic

One Shots: Good is a relative term

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 4th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Warhammer Online, One Shots

According to some, the forces of Order are supposed to be the 'good' guys. There again, we've probably all had that moment when we checked out the gear on a dead NPC and wished we could pick it up because it looked cool -- or at least beat the crap out of whatever we were carrying at the time. Today's Warhammer Online One Shots comes to us from John P. who decided to speak up as a couple of NPC were about to bury one of the fallen heroes. He writes:

In Warhammer Online, there's a little scripted event in the Elf starter zone where some elves are sending off one of their dead lords. Seems like a shame to waste all that good equipment. Yes, I was just trying to be cute.

Seen (or done) something silly in your favorite MMO recently? If so, we'd love to see screenshots of it. Just send those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the game it's from. Make sure to add in a quick note about what we're seeing, too. We'll post it here and give you the credit for it!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Tags: ea, john-p, mythic, mythic-entertainment, one-shots, screenshot, screenshots, war, warhammer-online

The Daily Grind: Feeling jaded on MMOs?

by Kyle Horner Feb 28th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Reading the comments around Massively, sometimes we wonder if any of our readers are feeling jaded with the current crop of MMOs. In fact, we often wonder if even the upcoming titles like All Points Bulletin, Final Fantasy XIV and Star Wars: The Old Republic are of any interest to many of you.

And, if nothing out there is really doing it for you, we'd like to hear what would. Of course, we're far more interested in hearing what isn't appealing to you and why. It's an unpredictable world out there where games like Perpetuum look to meld open economy/PvP with giant robots in the future. So why wouldn't anyone elses' crazy MMO idea have a shot at taking root?

Tags: all-points-bulletin, all-points-bulletin-game, apb, apb-ea, apb-game, bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, ea, ea-all-points-bulletin, ea-games, electronic-arts, electronic-arts-all-points-bulletin, ffxiv, final-fantasy-xiv, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, perpetuum, realtime-worlds, square-enix, star-wars, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, the-daily-grind, the-old-republic

Get your drink on with an epic Warhammer beer stein

by Krystalle Voecks Feb 27th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Hey Warhammer Online fans! Are you looking for an awesome stein to quaff your favorite ale from, while tearing it up in PvP? Perhaps your tastes run more to the Mountain Dew side of the road? Whatever your particular drink of choice is, Mythic has you covered with their Order of the Griffon and Raven Host stoneware steins.

Offered in Epic (pictured) and Legendary style, these collector's steins are covered in the art of Michael Phillippi or Eric Polak, depending on if you pick the Order or Raven design. They also come with a code for a special in-game beer stein for your character as well. You can /drink while you drink -- very meta. Players will also get a 15% experience, renown & influence bonus for 120 minutes, which doesn't suck either.

Tags: beer-steins, ea, eric-polak, in-game-item, michael-phillipi, mythic, mythic-entertainment, war, warhammer-online

Taris adding a little post-apocalyptic flavor to SWTOR

by Kyle Horner Feb 26th 2010 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Video, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

For those of us who played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the name Taris will immediately spark up some memories of those first few hours of playing the original game that started it all. Taris, for the record, was an ecumenopolis (or city-wide planet) much like Coruscant, only unlike the more famously known hub of the galaxy, Taris was destroyed and forgotten during the events of KOTOR.

This week's new Developer Dispatch video covers the dev team's efforts to make a uniquely post-apocalyptic zone for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it really delivers. Even if you haven't had the pleasure of playing KOTOR, we think Taris is going to be something to really look forward to -- except perhaps those Rakghouls.

Find the video below the break.

Tags: bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, developer-dispatch, ea, electronic-arts, kotor, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, star-wars-game, star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-mmorpg, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, taris, the-old-republic, trailer, video

Blizzard, NCsoft talent form developer En Masse Entertainment

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 24th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, News items

The MMO industry, despite some setbacks over the past year or so, has been growing at a steady rate for some time and doesn't show much sign of slowing. It's hard to argue that two of the most influential companies in that success have been Blizzard Entertainment and NCsoft, with the former keeping a stable of several successful games and the latter running a game well-known enough to not need a mention. So when staffers from both companies join up to form a new development studio, it's worth paying some attention to what the company is doing.

En Masse Entertainment, as reported by our sister site Joystiq, has just announced their formation as a company. Their staff includes talent from the aforementioned studios as well as Microsoft, ArenaNet, and Electronic Arts. According to the official press release, their first project is bringing the Korean MMORPG TERA to western audiences -- which might sound like another free-to-play game coming over until you note both the stunning visuals and the fact that it's slated to be a subscription model "like other triple-A titles." We'll be keeping a close eye on the new studio -- it could be a combination that produces some interesting results.

Tags: arenanet, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, ea, electronic-arts, en-masse-entertainment, microsoft, ncsoft, studios, tera