Star Wars is one of the
biggest IPs in popular culture and at various points in its history that's probably what's kept The Old Republic alive.
It's definitely what's going to kill it in the end.
Close to a billion dollars – that's how much money EA said that SWTOR had pulled in as of October 2019. That sounds like a lot of money - and it'll be more now - and it is a lot of money, but I'm still going to use this as a jumping off point to discuss whether or not SWTOR can actually be considered a success. It's not enough to point at the big round number and say of course it is.
Because for one thing that's revenue not pure profit, spread across close to ten years and against an original development cost of somewhere in the region of $200,000,000 and, it's been estimated, half as much again in promoting the game prior to its launch in 2012. There's also the ongoing running costs to consider, and the cost of subsequent development – though that figure is less than it could have been. A lot less.
EA/Bioware never said so in so many words but it's always been apparent that they intended SWTOR to be if not a WoW-killer then at the very least a rival to the 800lb gorilla of the MMO world. You don't spend that kind of money on a game in the hope of sitting in the second tier.
SWTOR launched big, but it didn't stay big – the numbers were not what EA/BW were looking for and within a year of launch the decision was made to go F2P. That was significant since Bioware had repeatedly declared that they'd never do this. Then again they also said they wouldn't be reducing the dev team post-launch and they did that as well. Viewed against the original (wildly unrealistic) expectations of the publisher/developer there's simply no argument – SWTOR failed.
But that's ancient history. Let's talk the current state of the game.
I did notice while I was on Tython that there seemed to be quite a lot of other players around. Not so many that there was competition for mob kills, but enough that I never had that 'where is everybody?' feeling I sometimes get in MMOs, especially in starter zones. That's a good sign, and Coruscant was similarly populated.
(Chat did seem rather quiet, but given my recollections of SWTOR chat channels that can only be a good thing.)
The game is also still putting out updates with new content – though the frequency and size of those updates has been eratic over the years and I do see a lot of comments in the MMOsphere about there being less story content than players would like... but that's a rod Bioware made for their own backs years ago. That there is new content does put SWTOR ahead of several of the other games in my rotation, but I'll reserve comment on the quality of that content until I get to it.
Assuming the game lasts long enough for me to do so. Ten years isn't bad – City of Heroes didn't make its tenth anniversary during its original live run, and it's not the only MMO that hasn't – but with World of Warcraft rapidly approaching it's 20th anniversary it's worth asking if SWTOR will one day do the same and I've got to say I'm doubtful, though not as doubtful as I was a few years ago.
There was a time not so long ago that
there was a real feeling of impending doom hanging over SWTOR,
and whilst I don't get that impression right now it still feels less
secure than it should. I daresay it's doing enough business to
justify its continued existence and isn't in any immediate danger of
being shut down, but a certain peculiar threat hangs overthis game, and that is that it's a Star Wars game.
The day someone at EA signs off on a new Star Wars MMORPG is the day the clock starts ticking on SWTOR. When this will happen I have no idea, but it will happen, just as it did to Star Wars Galaxies. Like the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, history has a habit of repeating itself.
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