EA Says They Are Gunning For WoW

[Telefrog]

EA Games president Frank Gibeau said that the goal is to make the recently announced Star Wars: The Old Republic more popular than the World of Warcraft juggernaut. Videogaming247 has the scoop (http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/10/24/wow-is-the-target-with-the-old-republic-says-lucasarts-and-ea/).


“Just look at the base of Star Wars fans, plus what BioWare can do. Trust me: we want to win. EA’s reputation is for wanting to win.

“This is going to be a powerful category and there’s lots of ways to compete in this category. [Blizzard] created a much larger opportunity for everybody else, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way.”

LucasArts online boss Tom Nichols concurred, saying that the firm is banking on The Old Republic’s storytelling component to bust through WoW’s 11 million subs record.


As much of a BioWare and Star Wars fan as I am, I wish them luck because the target they've set for themselves is no small task.

[Zrikz]

I just don't see it happening... ever. Unless they pull some amazing implementation, even though starwars has a big fanbase, its not gonna happen.

Look at SWG, even just with its name I don't think I heard of it even hitting 1 millions subscribers.

[KingGorilla]

So EA is the new SOE?

[Telefrog]

Look at SWG, even just with its name I don't think I heard of it even hitting 1 millions subscribers.

To be fair, the mediocre verdict on SWG got out pretty fast.

[biosc1]

I'm gunning to win the lottery.

It's good to have dreams :)

[Scaryfaced]

Every new MMO released wants to be as big as WoW. They just never seem to make it that far. I'm sure AoC thought they'd be as big as WoW aswell. I wonder how that worked out..
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PUBLIC XXX (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/35/public/videos/1)

[Zrikz]

Every new MMO released wants to be as big as WoW. They just never seem to make it that far. I'm sure AoC thought they'd be as big as WoW aswell. I wonder how that worked out..

They were on track for a while I think.. I thought I heard something like 750,000+ on launch day. Now they probably don't even have that many subscribers. I thought I heard about server mergers in the near future as well.

[VerseD]

I wonder what BioWare thinks of EA saying they'll beat World of Warcraft. It's never good to raise expectations.

I think Warhammer Online did it best: Say you don't intend to compete with the WoW megalith, then release a game that's very different in a lot of ways and try to attract players dissatisfied with WoW.

[Blue]

I don't really want anyone gunning for WoW. If that's your goal, you're just going to end up making a game structured around the wrong ideals. Not saying that's what WoW is (as I'm helplessly addicted), but if your sole mission is to de-throne the juggernaut, you're in it for the wrong reasons and your design will eventually reflect that. Make your own game that's good for its own reasons and merits and people will come. Don't immediately try and be more of the same.

[diablopath]

At this point in time, I'm happy for anything that's not WoW.

That's why I got Disgaea 3, Dead Space, Fable 2 and then Fallout 3 on the way :P.

[Raen]

I think this was pretty obvious. I mean WoW has around 11 million subscribers right? Why not shoot for that? Build the game so that you feel it's good enough to attract that many players. Seems pretty reasonable to me. And I mean the point they make about EQ in the article was actually pretty insightful to their way of thinking.

[mightbe]

They'd have better luck spending cash on h4x0rz ninjaing accounts to decrease WoW's userbase.

[Raen]

They'd have better luck spending cash on h4x0rz ninjaing accounts to decrease WoW's userbase.

I dunno. I mean Bioware have certainly got the talent. The figure frequently bandied about for beating WoW is $1 billion. EA can certainly afford that. If they can just put the two together they might have a shot at it.

[mightbe]

WoW has proven time and time again that new products do not diminish its subscriber base. It fluctuates from time to time but trying to craft a "WoW Killer" is an exercise in futility at this point.

Make the best game you can and hopefully you'll attract more and more people. But there's no killer in the pipeline any time soon.

[RandoM51]

Somebody should tell EA not to bring a knife to a gunfight.

I dunno. I mean Bioware have certainly got the talent. The figure frequently bandied about for beating WoW is $1 billion. EA can certainly afford that. If they can just put the two together they might have a shot at it.

Does Bioware have 250 employees and 5+ years of content development to dedicate to the project before they even release it?

Rome wasn't built in a day...

And that is why WoW won't be beat. The ante to even play at the same table with Blizzard is more than any company is willing to front. Meanwhile, Blizzard is not sitting there, they're continually refining existing content and adding new content making an already near-impossible to hit target that much harder to hit.

[Raen]

I wouldn't even say they're trying to be a 'WoW killer'. AoC and WAR can, to an extent, fit into the space as they're competing in roughly the same genre. Star Wars isn't really in the same space as WoW, although there's likely a lot of fan cross over. I mean obviously they're competing in that space, but they're shooting for the 11 million figure of WoW. And from reading what the guy says it seems they're simply saying they believe it'll be good enough to challenge WoW, not that it's specifically being designed to 'beat' WoW.

[RandoM51]

I wouldn't even say they're trying to be a 'WoW killer'.
Read the title of the thread.

AoC and War weren't ever going to be a threat to WoW, but EA is attempting to position their new Star Wars MMO as one.

[Raen]

Read the title of the thread.

Read the source article

[RandoM51]

Unless you're saying the title of the thread is inaccurate I do not need to read the source article. Are you saying that?

[Raen]

Unless you're saying the title of the thread is inaccurate I do not need to read the source article. Are you saying that?

I'm saying they're trying to achieve similar success to WoW, rather than WoW itself. The first may in some way effect the second, but they're isn't necessarily a direct correlation.

[Vyzov]

I'm saying they're trying to achieve similar success to WoW, rather than WoW itself. The first may in some way effect the second, but they're isn't necessarily a direct correlation.

Both EA and LucasArts have confirmed to VG247 that the target for BioWare’s newly announced Star Wars: The Old Republic is to make an MMO with a larger userbase than World or Warcraft.and

“Just look at the base of Star Wars fans, plus what BioWare can do. Trust me: we want to win. EA’s reputation is for wanting to win.Hmm, it sounds like they just flat out said, they want to Beat WoW. Not that they want to share with WoW, or "achieve similar success to WoW"

Did you read the source article?

[Purple Santa]

At this point in time, I'm happy for anything that's not WoW.

That's why I got Disgaea 3, Dead Space, Fable 2 and then Fallout 3 on the way :P.

So this is your methadone treatment for your heroin addiction ;)

[Telefrog]

I'm saying they're trying to achieve similar success to WoW, rather than WoW itself. The first may in some way effect the second, but they're isn't necessarily a direct correlation.

Read the article again. He clearly says they can beat WoW, as in EA wants "to win". Not coexist. Not be friendly rivals. Win.

[H.Bogard]

Somebody should tell EA not to bring a knife to a gunfight.



Does Bioware have 250 employees and 5+ years of content development to dedicate to the project before they even release it?

Rome wasn't built in a day...

And that is why WoW won't be beat. The ante to even play at the same table with Blizzard is more than any company is willing to front. Meanwhile, Blizzard is not sitting there, they're continually refining existing content and adding new content making an already near-impossible to hit target that much harder to hit.

Yeah. Blizzard has 1000+ employees and makes around a billion every year. No one can beat them or their resources.

[KingGorilla]

There is more to this that The Old Republic vs World of Warcraft. There is also a lot of Activision-Blizzard vs EA. EA was very happy to mention that they moved a much larger number of songs than Activision did. EA head hunted Carmak away from what was considered a nearly ironclad relationship with Activision.

EA is the company that spent an ungodly sum of money to become the only company to make a licensed football game.

But on the other hand, Blizzard(independent of WoW) has the most profitable and impressive stable of properties of any developer in the entire business. Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, tens of millions of games for each franchise have been sold. Series and franchises so powerful that any one would be enough to sustain any other company indefinitely.

[Orca]

Look at SWG, even just with its name I don't think I heard of it even hitting 1 millions subscribers.

SWG peaked at around 300,000 subscribers. At its peak, Everquest was somewhere under 550,000.

I don't understand people saying a WoW-killer needs to bring something totally new to the table if it wants to beat WoW - because WoW certainly didn't. They just polished existing MMO mechanics, removed a large part of the downtime, and set it in a popular and well-known universe.

Given that nobody is making the 'punish the player' style MMO these days, with the failure of Vanguard probably the stake in the heart for that breed, and there's arguably no bigger license than Star Wars, I'd guess BioWare and EA have two of the three done already.

To 'beat' WoW, a game, regardless of the license, will have to launch with a stable client and polished content in place from day one. If it really wants to compete, it'll have to run well on 'mid-to-low' end machines.

And it wouldn't hurt if Blizzard ran short on ideas and the wheels started to fall off the WoW juggernaut. There are already players who are tired of the endgame loot grind and want to try something new - so a game launching at the right time might do well.

Warhammer might have made a dent, but I don't think launching right before the expansion was a great idea. The lure of new shiny things in WoW will probably pull back a lot of the cross-traffic adopters, regardless of how tired they were of getting new shiny things before the expansion.

[Hotcod]

WoW is a freak. Nothing is ever ever going to beat WoW in the terms that we understand it... nothing is ever going to even come close. There are just some things that happen way out side of the boundaries of what is expected and understood and wow is simply some of those remarkable instances. As such EA is kidding them selfs if they ever think they will come close to the numbers wow has... I'm sure that this new mmo will do well in general terms of the market but not that well.

Let's just put it this way... the statistics dealing with mmo subscribers in general would compensate to a huge extent for WoW being a freak

[Raen]

Did you read the source article?

I actually read the source article about 4 times. Can't believe I missed the comment on winning, especially considering how early it is in the article. All the other stuff on getting a larger userbase seemed reasonable to me, it's just setting a goal not targeting the same players. Even saying they just wanted to compete with WoW could be in terms of userbase, but saying you want to win makes it pretty clear.

[Karmakin]

In order to "beat" WoW, I strongly think that a game would have to be much better in every conceivable way. The social momentum of WoW is too strong. (If you play with your friends, you're not going to leave more than likely unless you leave as a group.)

It needs to have better leveling with opportunities for both solo and group play.

It needs to have better PvP, both instance based and open world

It needs to have better class balance.

It needs to have better crafting.

It needs to have a better economy.

It needs to have better game mechanics.

It needs to have a better engine.

And finally, yes, it needs to have a better, MUCH better endgame loot grind. And I don't put this lightly. The best part of WoW IMO is endgame raiding. Due to the game mechanics, there are lots of possibility and variety in the battles. It needs to be rewarding, and fun to do repeatedly with your friends. The pacing needs to be right on.

And it needs to be ALL those things at once. That's the tough part.

[Telefrog]

It needs to have a better engine.

It should, but at the same time, a new MMO that wants to "beat" WoW cannot have an engine that surpasses WoW's PC requirements by a large margin. Part of Blizzard's success is that they design for a very low target PC spec.