With EA’s recent announcement that Star Wars The Old Republic will be going free to play this fall, many people are left wondering if subscription MMO’s are dead.
EA is nearing an agreement to move the ongoing development and operation of MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic from BioWare to third-party studio Broadsword Online Games, IGN has learned. The move is intended to allow BioWare to focus on Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
A new update for Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out on PC and the patch notes provide us with an in-depth look at all the new changes.
I loved this game and have played since launch but don't let this article fool you, this game is a step above life support. While they are still technically updating the game, the updates are few and far between and there is a significant lack of quality control, so many little bugs that have been present for years.
SWTOR players, get ready for a new month of exciting in-game events! Here's what's coming up in January 2023.
"Are Subscription MMO’s Dead?"
Well this could go two ways, the first is simply yes, recent years have shown us that the subscription model is dying and people just aren't falling for it any more.
However and this is my counter-argument, we haven't really seen an MMO in recent years which enforces a subscription model as well as revolutionary new gameplay and innovation, the trend in the market has been the same ever since WoW's success and even that was even based on earlier successful MMO's. Dev's simply aren't willing to try that new thing which could change the genre and this is why most new MMO's such as SWTOR fail if they have a subscription.
If an MMO comes around that delivers an new innovative experience which can't be found anywhere else and has a subscription it could succeed, when we will see this MMO on the other hand is anyone's guess. Sure GW2 is trying new things but that doesn't even have a subscription in the first place.
My guess is that Blizzard will be the one to take on it's own creation with there next MMO.