Considering that EA's license for star wars is ending in 2023 (THANK GOD!!!!), do you think that is when swtor will be dropped?

 

Its been clear that swtor is being treated as a cash cow for quite some time, I personally love the game and still enjoy it in bursts but unless they bring a serious wow size expansion with 6.0 it will not bring back many people and while I still hope, I am afraid that EA is simply unwilling to invest any kind of serious money into swtor anymore, even if it still is largely profitable.

 

So... its really only about 4 years away, do you think 6.0 will be the last expansion and swtor will be cut off and shut down in 2023? Or do you think there will be some last ditch effort to actually keep it going? Its clear the developers are passionate about it. Do you think the new IP owner, or Disney will be willing to keep the lights on? Or will they possibly make new mmo?

 

Im feeling some anxiety about that, so I am curious about what others think

No. It's hard to say because none of us have any slightest idea about how much SWTOR makes them, it'll just depend on how much it's profitable, but I don't think so.

 

Or will they possibly make new mmo?

 

I am even more sure that this won't happen, ever, least of all not with the SW IP. This will probably be the last SW MMO, ever. I don't see new MMOs coming out in the future. Disney will probably just hand SWTOR to somebody else. I don't think they'd particularly care, but if it still makes money I also don't see Disney dropping it.

 

Also, is it possible that EA might keep the license? I think this is another likely scenario.

Edited November 16, 2018 by TyonYlle

Considering that EA's license for star wars is ending in 2023 (THANK GOD!!!!), do you think that is when swtor will be dropped?

 

Its been clear that swtor is being treated as a cash cow for quite some time, I personally love the game and still enjoy it in bursts but unless they bring a serious wow size expansion with 6.0 it will not bring back many people and while I still hope, I am afraid that EA is simply unwilling to invest any kind of serious money into swtor anymore, even if it still is largely profitable.

 

So... its really only about 4 years away, do you think 6.0 will be the last expansion and swtor will be cut off and shut down in 2023? Or do you think there will be some last ditch effort to actually keep it going? Its clear the developers are passionate about it. Do you think the new IP owner, or Disney will be willing to keep the lights on? Or will they possibly make new mmo?

 

Im feeling some anxiety about that, so I am curious about what others think

 

From the way you have written this, you already know the answer but you are loking for others to say it for you.

What is it you want to ask? get to it.

In all honesty, I don't know. Star Wars Galaxies only lasted 8 years but I really want ToR to last a lot longer than SWG. It's a lot of fun to play but as an MMO, it does have it's downsides, at least from my perspective but that's really all I have to say.

It would be good if the studio made some noise about this, otherwise these count-down threads keeping track of the calendar to doomsday will just proliferate out of control the closer we get to the contract end date, and all the speculation in the world won't make a bit of difference in the end. Edited November 16, 2018 by xordevoreaux

Of course it won't be the end. People ask this same question every time there's a license renewal for just about every MMO out there, and the answer has never been "Yes". Even Lord of the Rings Online keeps going, despite moving to a small company.

It will end at some point.

 

I am not really sure what will happen in the future, nothing worth being stressed out about.

 

We cant guarantee our own lives from day to day, but it should not stop us from enjoying the present.

Edited November 16, 2018 by kirorx

Considering that EA's license for star wars is ending in 2023 (THANK GOD!!!!), do you think that is when swtor will be dropped?

Nope. It'll be renewed. EA has resources no other publisher can match. They've completely bumbled the contract so far, but it won't stop it from being renewed.

This isn't the first time this topic has come up. And like the other half-dozen threads similar to this one, it's all speculation at this point.

 

What I think is that it's probably a safe bet you'll see 6.0 released next year, but I have serious reservations the game will last much beyond that. I feel like the SWTOR team is in a holding pattern until Anthem is released. If it flops, will EA shutter Bioware as they have done with other studios in similar scenarios? If it's a success, will they move what's left of the SWTOR team to the Anthem team? Time will tell.

 

But I'll frankly be stunned if this game isn't put into maintenance mode in 2020, where it may remain until 2023. What's more important though is if you're subscribing and still enjoying the game, continue to do so. If you're not enjoying the game, move on. Though there's nothing wrong with staying connected to see where the game is going, and how and when it ends. Who knows? It may pull a LotRO and stay alive for another 6 years, albeit in some other studio's hands.

Nope. It'll be renewed. EA has resources no other publisher can match. They've completely bumbled the contract so far, but it won't stop it from being renewed.

 

What TUXs said and the fact that we will have a 6.0 .

No. Everquest still exists and it was launched in 2000 and has a tiny player base. I think at some point, BW will try to push a major expansion designed to boost the sub numbers. It will generate a lot of buzz and draw some headlines. Whether it works or not SWTOR will roll along and change as the times change.

 

It will never turn into SWG. That game pulled the NGE for a reason and the truth is many people say they want a sandbox style game but for some reason never show up in numbers to play it. That's why sandbox games fail. That's why SWG failed.

 

The thing about MMORPG's is they have the capability to change as needed to keep people playing. Some will like a new direction while other will hate it but in the end the doors stay open and time marches on.

 

SWTOR will keep on going. It may change owners, it may blossom into the most popular MMO ever or it may limp along with a skeleton crew on life support but most likely it will keep going for a long while.

Why? What happens in 2023? Another Mayan calendar?

Why? What happens in 2023? Another Mayan calendar?

Yeah.... it is Friday.. so naturally we have to have some drama fest.. and a retread of this old tired wishful thinking is of course easy to regurgitate.

 

The OP is fixated on the end of the 10 year exclusive agreement between EA and Disney for all but a handful of mobile games (which Disney still has first rights to).

 

What he fails to understand, or is willfully ignoring, is that in agreements like this there is more often then not a multi-year renewal before agreement expiration. Now.. setting this fact aside, SWTOR was originally under it's own license agreement that predated the EA/Disney umbrella agreement... so let's say for example Disney and EA do not renew the strategic exclusive agreement for SW games, EA/Disney can still renew agreements for existing games and continue on. It's not like Disney is in any position to continue to maintain games they never actually developed themselves. Easiest path for Disney is to just continue to harvest royalties (ie: revenue sharing) on existing games.

 

Could Disney and EA agree to part ways in 2023? Perhaps. The more likely outcome though is they renew the agreement. Disney historically prefers exclusive agreements with large partners, and just wants to collect royalties on a perpetual basis. It is basically free money for Disney as they have to do absolutely nothing but cash checks and keep a legal eye on contract performance. The worst case scenario is that they do not renew, but put in an extended continuation agreement for games already released (or in design, and pending release).

 

TL;DR: SWTOR is not going anywhere due to current license agreements, only that it will eventually age out sometime down the road, like most MMOs do.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Andryah

I might be done by 2023. It's hard to imagine playing this game still, but heck, it's already been 6 (7?) years off and on, so whether the game is here or not isn't as important as "Can it continue to hold my interest into 2023?" Edited November 16, 2018 by Rion_Starkiller

I am even more sure that this won't happen, ever, least of all not with the SW IP. This will probably be the last SW MMO, ever. I don't see new MMOs coming out in the future.

 

Yeah, I agree with this point.

 

The last real gasp at new MMO titles appears to have come and gone about 5 or 6 years ago. And some of them are already gone.

 

Standing up a new MMO on popular IP is expensive and a fools choice for the big game holding companies now days. There is room for small studios and crowd funded efforts to stand up smaller niche MMOs... but it is not clear at all that niche MMOs can even survive in todays market.... but we will know for sure if/when some of the promised niche MMOs actually go live. Camelot Unchained is a particularly good example of what is taking place in the crowd/private funded niche MMO market space right now.. and it appears more and more to be vaporware. A lot of us loved DAoC and would like to go back to some nostalgia of what made that game unique and great 18 years ago ... but it is not clear at all that Jacobs can pull it off... much less if people will actually pay to play said MMO.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Andryah

Nope. It'll be renewed. EA has resources no other publisher can match. They've completely bumbled the contract so far, but it won't stop it from being renewed.

 

At least some people see the reality of things!

 

My question is this: do we really need to have a new thread every week saying either SWTOR is dead, that it's dying or asking when it will die? Can't you people just... play the game and NOT think about when it will end? Just enjoy it and play it, it's not that difficult.

 

Everything ends at some point but you don't see people going "oh Janice looks a bit pale today, she's going to die soon" or "oh Brandon isn't responding to my messages, surely he must be dead" or "I wonder when Charlotte is going to die, do you reckon she could kick the bucket in 2023?".

Edited November 17, 2018 by Ylliarus

At least some people see the reality of things!

 

My question is this: do we really need to have a new thread every week saying either SWTOR is dead, that it's dying or asking when it will die?

 

Unfortunately the answer to that question is yes, and the frequency of threads such as this will only get worse between now and 2023. We'll be wading through this worthless tirade from now to Kingdom Come.

Unfortunately the answer to that question is yes, and the frequency of threads such as this will only get worse between now and 2023. We'll be wading through this worthless tirade from now to Kingdom Come.

 

I wonder how those people would feel if others constantly asked them "so, when are you going to die?"

What I think differentiates SWTOR from other games is the power/ownership of The Mouse. If Disney wants this game to continue - and if it's making money and getting people into some aspect of Star Wars, I can't think that they would not - they have the money and influence to make it happen, with or without EA/BW.

Nope. It'll be renewed. EA has resources no other publisher can match. They've completely bumbled the contract so far, but it won't stop it from being renewed.

 

Not "if" EA does the loot debacle again, Disney had to give EA private calls that i know of, where Disney had to tell them that they(Disney didn't mind Adults paying for loot, but when it hits CNN and FOX about Kids buying loot, then Disney does not like that. EA can only get away with so much. While EA does have Billions of dollars, the fact is they are not doing as good as other companies have with the Star Wars IP.

 

EA had to change that loot stuff, and Disney could have had a good out with EA's contract if EA had not changed their loot problem.

 

I did some Battlefront 2 stuff, and fact is it is still a failure compared to the original. Even though EA's Battlefront 2 has only better graphics, but does not have that ground ti space combat that the maker of the original Battlefront 2 and 3 had with the other company. Disney wanted to let Battlefront 3 be released by the other company, along with other Star Wars games like Darth Maul that also got shelved. Disney said that they were superior to EA games, but they said that they could not block EA without a good cause, because Unfortunately they have the sole contract.

 

EA, does not know how to make games like the 1980's and have a totally different management. But EA doesn't get that BioWare and it's other subsidiaries could make fantastic games if EA would stop meddling in some of there stuff.

 

EA also still does Not understand, that the Frostbite Engine does not make a good game with graphics, it's that kind of games you make with good thought process. Unfortunately EA owns Bioware, unfortunately.

Edited November 17, 2018 by MandFlurry

Star Wars is Forever.

 

. . . . . . I'm not worried at all.

With this game I take every day as they come, its on or its off. Right now SWTOR is in a situation I feel it could go either way just as easily as the other. As others have always said "Speculation", Guessing", "Rumor Central" and all the other ways of saying "Nobody Knows". Compared to other games we all know how it looks and yet its on and still Crawling along from one day to the next. I take it day by day and wouldn't be very surprised to find up or down. In 2023 they'll make a decision and I believe that answer wont be based on anything relevant to its customers.

At least some people see the reality of things!

 

My question is this: do we really need to have a new thread every week saying either SWTOR is dead, that it's dying or asking when it will die? Can't you people just... play the game and NOT think about when it will end? Just enjoy it and play it, it's not that difficult.

 

Everything ends at some point but you don't see people going "oh Janice looks a bit pale today, she's going to die soon" or "oh Brandon isn't responding to my messages, surely he must be dead" or "I wonder when Charlotte is going to die, do you reckon she could kick the bucket in 2023?".

 

Amen to that.

I might be done by 2023. It's hard to imagine playing this game still, but heck, it's already been 6 (7?) years off and on, so whether the game is here or not isn't as important as "Can it continue to hold my interest into 2023?"

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. I played WoW off and on for about 10 years before I finally had it; the thought of doing certain areas another time made me groan out loud. I've only been playing this game for about a year, so it's still fresh to me.

I'm less concerned about licensing arrangements, which would be relatively easy to work out.

 

The bigger issue looming is what EA decides to do with Bioware writ-large if Anthem bombs. I truly have no idea how fungible the assets are in terms of talent, personnel, etc., if BW Austin as a facility becomes unsustainable because Anthem ends up tanking.

 

Dasty

Edited November 17, 2018 by Jdast