by Stacy Jones on Nov 29, 2011
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has never been afraid to speak his mind and at a recent Reuters Summit the CEO took some subtle jabs at rival EAs upcoming MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR).
Earlier last week a survey and analysis by Lazard Capital Markets and Peanut Labs calculated that anywhere from 900,000 to 1.6 million players could leave World of Warcraft (WoW) following the launch of SWTOR, but Kotick downplayed the notion that BioWare's upcoming MMORPG would gain any of WoWs users and even questioned if EA would make any money off of the ambitious Star Wars title.
Lucas is going to be the principal beneficiary of the success of Star Wars," Kotick said. "We've been in business with Lucas for a long time and the economics will always accrue to the benefit of Lucas, so I don't really understand how the economics work for Electronic Arts.
The rivalry between Activision Blizzard and EA BioWare should be an interesting one to watch. EA has met Activision head on in the FPS market by pitting Battlefield 3 against the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in an FPS franchise war. Now EA will take aim at the MMORPG market with SWTOR to take on its chief rival, WoW.
Can SWTOR challenge WoW's position as the top running MMORPG? Or will it be another in a long line of titles to fall short? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Update: LucasArt's Revenue Split for SWTOR Around 35% According to Analyst
Update 2: Star Wars: The Old Republic Breaks 1.7 Million Subscribers