Strong Pre-Order numbers for SWTOR
In an annual report released yesterday by Bioware, among the pages of budgeting and productivity reports, discerning fans of Star Wars The Old Republic saw that the game, still months from release has already broken 36 thousand subscribers.
In a somewhat surprising move it seems the developers of the game have neglected to mention this on their website, even though it seems like a very impressive statistic. However, this may be just a temporary business decision, as they may wait until the number reaches another substantial milestone, such as 50 thousand.
With the date for release officially ‘set in stone’ for the 20th of December, it is somewhat surprising that so many players would be interested in securing the game so far ahead of time. Previous games, even ones as large as World of Warcraft, did not have nearly this many subscribers such a distance before they would actually enter the game.
It is probably no coincidence that the release date has been scheduled for the 20th, four days after the planned shut down of the previous Star Wars MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies. Perhaps Lucasarts’ juggling of these dates is why it took so long to have a confirmed release for SWTOR, as they want to transfer as many players as possible straight from one to the other.
Since the announcement of SWTOR there has been almost continual speculation as to how the two games will coexist, which has thankfully been put to rest with the conclusion of one chapter in the Star Wars game-saga, and the opening of another. Lets just hope the strong subscriber numbers will reflect the strength of Star Wars The Old Republic when it is released, or we may find a lot of players wishing to move back to their previous game, which will no longer be there.
