"Over the past few months, BioWare has essentially transformed into a single-game studio as it harnesses its teams to work on the ambitious multiplayer action game Anthem, sources say. There are still small teams maintaining Star Wars: The Old Republic and piecing together the next Dragon Age, which was recently rebooted, but the bulk of BioWare’s staff in both Edmonton and Austin are now on Anthem. And there’s a sense among BioWare employees that the company’s future is inextricably tied to this game."

"BioWare has also discussed ending development on the multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic, those sources said, although one person familiar with the studio told me recently that plans are still up in the air."

https://kotaku.com/bioware-doubles-down-on-anthem-as-pressure-mounts-1822380989

i don't know how reliable is this but......ouch.....

Isn't that just the same article that these forums were wibbling about a while back?

Yep, it is.

Since the prelim release date is early 2019, we can already set our expectations low for quality and depth of updates until then.

Unfortunately this also means the future of swtor is tied to anthem. Unusual for sure and sad for swtor fans.

That article was written about a year to late as far as I am concerned because it has been well documented that Mass Effect Andromeda had resources diverted from that project to Anthem at least a year of more up until the game was released in March 2017. And I suspect that SWTOR has been contributing just as long if not longer to the development of Anthem.

im more Worried about the

Stopping development on Swtor part to be honest...

i mean we know EA loves shutting down games and companies left and right even games that are in development and 80% complete... the MOMMENT they not get enough profit or just feel like they wont get enough profit...

im more Worried about the

 

Stopping development on Swtor part to be honest...

 

i mean we know EA loves shutting down games and companies left and right even games that are in development and 80% complete... the MOMMENT they not get enough profit or just feel like they wont get enough profit...

Sure, they discussed shutting down SWTOR:

Dev 1: I think it's a bad idea to shut down SWTOR.

Dev 2: I agree.

There, it's discussed.

Sure, they discussed shutting down SWTOR:

 

Dev 1: I think it's a bad idea to shut down SWTOR.

Dev 2: I agree.

 

There, it's discussed.

More to the point, I'm sure most well-run studios do have discussions about the inevitable winding down of their game. I want to say that Valve has made a statement that they'd drop DRM for games on Steam if they ever go down. Doesn't mean that Steam is going belly-up tomorrow, but nothing lasts forever, and there's no problem having a plan in place for the endgame.

In case some of you have forgotten how to Time Warp...

https://www.wikihow.com/Do-the-Time-Warp

That is all,

Dasty

More to the point, I'm sure most well-run studios do have discussions about the inevitable winding down of their game. I want to say that Valve has made a statement that they'd drop DRM for games on Steam if they ever go down. Doesn't mean that Steam is going belly-up tomorrow, but nothing lasts forever, and there's no problem having a plan in place for the endgame.

to be honest i think Steam will last forever lol

it will change skins and leaders a few times and even mechanics and stuff... but it will be forever a Main place for games...

i mean come ooon what could possibly make the Brutal big super popular Cashcow of a Steam to ever go down ?

its not like a Game where you can Miss develop it its just a small program a Platform to be honest....

will last longer then we are lol XD

but but 6.0 and rep vs imp was confirmed T_T_T_T__TTT

I didnt get to enjoy my jedi robes for long eh?

So you really believe in Kotaku? Isnt that is the website did some weird Overwatch GIF p*rn article a while back?

lol good luck my man

"Over the past few months, BioWare has essentially transformed into a single-game studio as it harnesses its teams to work on the ambitious multiplayer action game Anthem, sources say. There are still small teams maintaining Star Wars: The Old Republic and piecing together the next Dragon Age, which was recently rebooted, but the bulk of BioWare’s staff in both Edmonton and Austin are now on Anthem. And there’s a sense among BioWare employees that the company’s future is inextricably tied to this game."

 

"BioWare has also discussed ending development on the multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic, those sources said, although one person familiar with the studio told me recently that plans are still up in the air."

 

https://kotaku.com/bioware-doubles-down-on-anthem-as-pressure-mounts-1822380989

 

i don't know how reliable is this but......ouch.....

Old news.. and still no evidence of it being actually true. Yeah yeah... some players will demand that it must be true because the person reporting it has been right about some things in the past (also been wrong too.. this sort of hard nosed view is kind of misplaced in my view).

We will know when/if they throttle back on SWTOR, not before.

So you really believe in Kotaku? Isnt that is the website did some weird Overwatch GIF p*rn article a while back?

 

lol good luck my man

It's not so much kotaku as it is the person that wrote the article. If you follow what he writes. He's pretty solid in the game industry. Wrote a book about it as well as had the insider information on ME.

If it was someone else, you could probably have side shelved it as just something to think about. However, that particular author I have no problem thinking he is way more right than wrong. Combine that with how things are in swtor most of what the articles says fits with how shallow swtor has been in so many areas.

In the end I think it has way more right about how swtor is doing and whats going on than wrong.

More to the point, I'm sure most well-run studios do have discussions about the inevitable winding down of their game. I want to say that Valve has made a statement that they'd drop DRM for games on Steam if they ever go down. Doesn't mean that Steam is going belly-up tomorrow, but nothing lasts forever, and there's no problem having a plan in place for the endgame.

I agree, but it wouldn't be at the dev level as his post indicated, but with the studio heads, people responsible to the shareholders to increase the company's value by maintaining or updating the product mix as they see appropriate.

Devs just pound keyboards and scribble on white boards.

I think if SWTOR continues putting out content at this current rate nobody will be around anyway no matter what B.W. or E.A. has planned as of now. It seems most other notable games are consistently adding more on their set schedules while here its 5..ish months for Copero or Umbarra size additions with a few customer upsetting reunions and unfriendly game changes.

Both GW2 and Eso is churing out content and have crazy Road maps with many planed stuff to come out and even entire New systems that came out and Will came out...

meanwhile Swtor is just standing here.... With pitifully small changes and content each year.....

but they sure as hell Releasing carter Packs like a mad man......

it prety much Screams that Swtor is at the Back Burner and has barely any talented devs on it....

Both GW2 and Eso is churing out content and have crazy Road maps with many planed stuff to come out and even entire New systems that came out and Will came out...

 

meanwhile Swtor is just standing here.... With pitifully small changes and content each year.....

but they sure as hell Releasing carter Packs like a mad man......

 

it prety much Screams that Swtor is at the Back Burner and has barely any talented devs on it....

I've brought up before how much EA/BW is making off this game. A couple years ago where the game placed on the 'subbed MMO' monies list put the game in the range of $150M+ (possibly up to $200M+) in annual revenue. Majority of that $$$ is from Cartel sales. Now let's flash forward to today and say maybe the game isn't making as much. Even if it dropped $50m in revenue and is only making $100m a year, EA is NOT going to ditch that cash cow. That's $100M in almost free money, that we the consumers are paying into Anthem. It sure isn't going for development of SWTOR. The money put out for SWTOR is a handful of people and the server costs. EA isn't going to ditch that huge of a handout unless something drastic happened and suddenly NO one was buying Cartel stuff.

I've brought up before how much EA/BW is making off this game. A couple years ago where the game placed on the 'subbed MMO' monies list put the game in the range of $150M+ (possibly up to $200M+) in annual revenue. Majority of that $$$ is from Cartel sales. Now let's flash forward to today and say maybe the game isn't making as much. Even if it dropped $50m in revenue and is only making $100m a year, EA is NOT going to ditch that cash cow. That's $100M in almost free money, that we the consumers are paying into Anthem. It sure isn't going for development of SWTOR. The money put out for SWTOR is a handful of people and the server costs. EA isn't going to ditch that huge of a handout unless something drastic happened and suddenly NO one was buying Cartel stuff.

And this is what is making a lot of us mad. We pay a monthly fee with the understanding that the money will go back into this game. EA stealing resources that we put in to fund a stupid shooter is maddening. I want the money I put into this game to go back into this game in the form of good content. They can take funds from static games and put them toward new ones, but this is an ongoing game and they need to treat it differently. I hate EA

And this is what is making a lot of us mad. We pay a monthly fee with the understanding that the money will go back into this game.

This is NOT how the real world works. If a studio's only product or service was a single MMO.. then yes.. that would be an appropriate expectation. But EA is a large holding company of many games.. and their focus is largely (and from a shareholder perspective it is correct too) to future development of a stream of products that continue to expand across the customer base and the company continues to grow as a result.

SWTOR is only one facet of an entire book of business, and if you think that a dollar spent on one product can only be spent on that product.. you are sadly mistaken. I get that this is your desire personally, but it runs counter to how diversified companies actually successfully operate.

If you actually read EAs quarterly reports and transcripts from analyst calls.... it is very obvious that they see only limited ROI on a product/service that follows a classic MMO format. Their R&D focus on growth has been very much been directed toward mobile gaming, followed by console gaming, followed by single-player/small-group, PC gaming, followed by MMOs. They ARE following their plan, and they have grown successfully from doing so ... so it is hard to argue with their actual success model as a company.

EA stealing resources that we put in to fund a stupid shooter is maddening. I want the money I put into this game to go back into this game in the form of good content. They can take funds from static games and put them toward new ones, but this is an ongoing game and they need to treat it differently. I hate EA

LMAO. You have it completely backwards here pal. EA gives resources to studios to conduct ongoing work. Revenue for a company like EA is captured at the EA level.. not the studio level... and a percentage of it is reapportioned across ongoing operations in the form of an operations plan expense over a calendar year. Where the hell to do you think new R&D investments come from for a corporation? It is apportioned at the top level downward from revenue earned. You can argue about how they apportion, and how much.... but to claim they are stealing from SWTOR (and by association, players) is absurd.

In my view.. players like yourself should stick to smaller niche MMOs that are essentially the sole product of service offered by a gaming company.... if you want to insist all subscriptions and other revenue get reinvested in said MMO. Because that is the only way to achieve your view of desired reality.

E.A. is Sacrificing SWTOR to bring up Anthem faster and cheaper then if Anthem had its own complete team. This is *fairly common however E.A. has taken "Too Much". All this to bring up a game "Very Similar" to mass's of other games on the internet with their own "Dedicated Members"; SWTOR game is Unique which is very likely the reason it has been so mismanaged (Didn't fit E.A.'s templates). The KotXX was SWTOR and BioWares "Hail Mary Pass", "Bet the Farm", "Bet the Bank", "Last Ditch Effort". and it fumbled .

For Electronic Arts *IF SWTOR dwindles down to Less income then they care to "Maintain".....So What; ((Maybe they'll come to Anthem anyway)). I really like this game however its Unique, doesn't fit models and requires more then "Click, Click, Click, Click" mentality to appreciate, for that E.A. thinks of it as the "Black Sheep". Right now in the middle of a "Star Wars" resurgence and how has E.A. handled it, They're killing their customers over *Money*.

I think it can also be said that EA is not good at keeping an MMO going strong because they've never really done it before. They pushed release too early when the game wasn't ready with enough end game content, and that caused the first major crash of subscribers, and it has been something just about annually ever since. Now, for the last year or more they aren't even giving us big expansions to bring large portions of those subscribers back to the game.

The pittance of content they add here and there, the new flashpoint with the "story" continuation... that only draws back the die hards who are also taking breaks from this game that they never would have in other games due to the fact that the development rate is slow a molasses and all we get inbetween are nerfs and unwelcome changes to long standing systems that were reworked well beyond what was necessary to keep them current and/or balanced.

But this is a cycle that has been going on for a very long time, and every time it happens people claim the end of SWTOR. I think the end will only come when they finally run off enough people that EA isn't making $50 - $100 mil a year in cartel sales. They will keep trotting out the special "everything for direct sale" events that get people to whip out their wallets and laugh all the way to the bank.

You would too, if you owned this business and could get money from it and if it required a fraction of that money to be maintained. It's called business and making a profit. That's all they care about, but not because they are EA... but because they are a corporation and they ALL work that way.

SWTOR will shut down when it quits being profitable enough. None of us, not even EA can say when that will happen. The speculation that the sky is falling is just that - speculation. No one will know until it happens, and the player base will not have any warning or be kept "in the loop" about that decision or the metrics that help make that decision. Just play the game and enjoy it if it is to your liking. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, but it isn't a given that it's all going away either.

.

I think it can also be said that EA is not good at keeping an MMO going strong because they've never really done it before. They pushed release too early when the game wasn't ready with enough end game content, and that caused the first major crash of subscribers, and it has been something just about annually ever since. Now, for the last year or more they aren't even giving us big expansions to bring large portions of those subscribers back to the game.

 

The pittance of content they add here and there, the new flashpoint with the "story" continuation... that only draws back the die hards who are also taking breaks from this game that they never would have in other games due to the fact that the development rate is slow a molasses and all we get inbetween are nerfs and unwelcome changes to long standing systems that were reworked well beyond what was necessary to keep them current and/or balanced.

 

But this is a cycle that has been going on for a very long time, and every time it happens people claim the end of SWTOR. I think the end will only come when they finally run off enough people that EA isn't making $50 - $100 mil a year in cartel sales. They will keep trotting out the special "everything for direct sale" events that get people to whip out their wallets and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

You would too, if you owned this business and could get money from it and if it required a fraction of that money to be maintained. It's called business and making a profit. That's all they care about, but not because they are EA... but because they are a corporation and they ALL work that way.

 

SWTOR will shut down when it quits being profitable enough. None of us, not even EA can say when that will happen. The speculation that the sky is falling is just that - speculation. No one will know until it happens, and the player base will not have any warning or be kept "in the loop" about that decision or the metrics that help make that decision. Just play the game and enjoy it if it is to your liking. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, but it isn't a given that it's all going away either.

 

.

They still have Ultima Online and DAoC active in their stable of MMOs ... and have for many years. They are of course old, and small.. yet still running profitably.

They shuttered WAR early... largely due to very severe decline in players and Gamers Workshops allegedly draconian royalty structure. So they are not novices in this space.. but it IS accurate to say EAs interest in MMOs is very limited because it is not core to their future business focus.

The business model for SWTOR is a bit different than their other MMOs as they owe use royalties to Disney under the blanket license agreement, and as such when SWTOR eventually shutters will be driven by the long term license agreement between Disney and EA more so than scale of the player base.

A lot of SWTOR's aspects have / are being "Side Lined" in favor of more traditional MMO type games. The Ships, supposed Alliance Base as our Players "Current Home" (not StrongHold or Ships), Fast Travel and ofcourse the move away from "Story" (Hey the stories made this game unique (Doesn't fit Templates) and more like *Every Other Game on the Internet* (those require 6-10 brain cells). A move *Away from what the "Story Players Wanted / Stayed / Pay For". Everybody here really likes the stories, Why the Admin. is doing that less and effort into what every Other Games do I can only think is to run off the games intended members for more of the general (and easier to manage) Internet game players.

"Star Wars" is a *Long Standing genre with a direction, commonality's, recurring and certain criteria's. Electronic Arts cannot direct / dictate these items (Although some lenience if done in a SW manner). Moving SWTOR Away from its "Original Story Direction" to a more *Generic MMO status has so far alienated its core members (Less people) and can only pick up the more erratic "here today gone tomorrow" players. "If you want story, come to SWTOR, if you want something else, go to *Any *Other *Game. Once it becomes Not Unique its not appealing to Anybody.

Both GW2 and Eso is churing out content and have crazy Road maps with many planed stuff to come out and even entire New systems that came out and Will came out...

 

meanwhile Swtor is just standing here.... With pitifully small changes and content each year.....

but they sure as hell Releasing carter Packs like a mad man......

 

it prety much Screams that Swtor is at the Back Burner and has barely any talented devs on it....

Go play GW2/ESO then?