EA CEO won't share Old Republic release date because of "principal competitor"
by Mathew McCurley 
Jun 9th 2011 at 9:00PM
Announcing a release date "would be irresponsible for two really good reasons", Riccitiello said. "One, the competitive marketplace. Putting a window out there creates a window of opportunity for our principal competitor to put out an expansion pack or an ad campaign et cetera around our launch window. Bad move at this point in time."Now, while Riccitiello does not name Blizzard specifically, there are only a few potential "principal competitors" in the MMO market. Blizzard is definitely the biggest name at the table. What Riccitiello is saying is that announcing a release date for their MMO would give Blizzard the opportunity to move in on EA's hype, move its own release dates around, or prepare a patch or game release for the same time frame that The Old Republic would launch.
It is interesting to me that Riccitiello would say these things, especially at an event like E3, where everything is about showing games to players through the press and getting games into people's hands. Shouldn't Riccitiello be more concerned with letting the game stand on its own rather than weasel around with a release date? If two products stand side by side and one is better than the other, people will choose the better product.
I understand the concern -- WoW is the 500-pound gorilla. RIFT has proven you can release against WoW and maintain a sizable user base and even continue to grow. Don't blame Blizzard preemptively, and don't be scared of Blizzard. Yes, the MMO market is a volatile one, and yes, the MMO market feels limited, but it's not as bad as you think. Star Wars is going to succeed initially by brand alone, and while it would be nice to release without any competition, this is the competitive sphere we live in. Release a good game, and people will play it.
On the other hand, first-month launches can ruin an MMO. Perfectly good games have released unopposed, but with a little bad press at the start, fallen flat on their backs. Riccitiello isn't a dummy, and it is a smart move to avoid as much unnecessary competition as you can, especially from Blizzard. EA just wants to pull out all of the potential problems when launching.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
xanddra Jun 9th 2011 9:04PM
I wouldn't think Blizz would care THAT much about this... Trion would probably be the more likely target on that side of things.
While yes, there could be a new patch that just happens to drop that same day, but people have been looking for TOR for a while now, and been looking to jump ship any time now.
That and, that massive exodus that leaves every new game, for the most part, comes back after a few months.
xanddra Jun 9th 2011 9:05PM
*Leaves for each game.
WTB edit button.
WaterRouge Jun 9th 2011 9:09PM
I'll be playing SW:TOR even if they make a patch (meaning not a 40$ expansion) with a new set of playable races/hero class. I R-E-A-L-L-Y want to play it.
Bapo Jun 9th 2011 9:09PM
Didn't wow put out a patch or something like a week before or after rift came out? I can't remember :(
Arrohon Jun 9th 2011 9:15PM
No, they announced 4.1 the very day Rift was released. Blizzard has a history of releasing information and content around the same time new MMOs are released. Rift still did fine and TOR is likely to get a bigger following than it.
devilsei Jun 10th 2011 1:41AM
Blizzard may not care, but the people in charge, the ones really in charge, the stock-holders and the people who rely on them to fill their pockets, they care.
Which was why a 5% drop in Subscription base elicited a response from them, which WoWInsider reported on earlier.
jacksworth Jun 10th 2011 5:07AM
Blizzard do care. They aren't that stupid.
Either way, I'm pretty sure Razer have let it slip already. Even if its not entirely accurate, it still gives us a good idea of when.
Unless something changes, I will be trying ToR at this stage, regardless of what WoW does.
Stabaa Jun 10th 2011 7:30AM
Just need to remember that it's Blizzard-Activision, not just Blizzard. Blizz may still be the great game-designer at it's core but that's mostly what they are - game designers.
Activision on the other hand is a holding company who's sole purpose is to maximise profits for shareholders in every way possible. The people who are payed to milk as much money from things as possible see it as a science and this does involve marketing ploys etc. Just like it probably wasn't blizzard's idea to start selling mounts and companions online for RL money.
thepiratester Jun 10th 2011 7:46AM
My day is complete when I hear news about TOR! The game looks sick, I cant wait!!
John Jun 10th 2011 9:16AM
BY the way - the quote starts with "One" - and my OCD mania was NOT to be denied the requisite "Two."
Here it is for my fellow completionists!
"Second, you do a beta for a reason. You intend to learn something. If you have the answer before you ask the question you're not listening. We intend, [BioWare founders] Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk and [EA Games Label president] Frank Gibeau, to listen to their consumers."
[Yes, his change from beginning his statements with a cardinal to an ordinal is annoying, but not a deal-breaker, this is Bioware after all, so some leeway is allowed.]
jfofla Jun 10th 2011 12:16PM
I am certain Diablo is already complete. Blizzard has it Locked and Loaded to drop on the same day as TOR, and Bioware knows it.
Amaxe Jun 9th 2011 9:07PM
Well, while Blizz isn't to blame for what sunk other MMOs, it is also true that their xpacs do come "coincidentally" close to the release dates of other MMOs (WHO & WOLK for example).
Fair or not, looks like the SWTOR people don't want to risk having that competition sink their shot at it.
gewalt Jun 9th 2011 9:40PM
The problem is, they are ALSO denying their fans a chance to get excited.
You don't want to do that.
Ringo Flinthammer Jun 9th 2011 9:52PM
I'm not sure there's much chance that people won't be excited for TOR.
Amaxe Jun 9th 2011 10:02PM
A valid point to be sure.
I think Blizz does seek to mute the hype for other things by hyping their coming soon project.
My memories of Warhammer Online for example were:
1) People were really bored with TBC at the time
2) Many people were looking forward to Warhammer Online as an improvement and fresh.
3) Blizz began their WOLK hype at about the time WHO was announced.
Now the releases were about two months apart, and WHO missing some crucial components helped sink the enthusiasm (it did mine), but it was clear that the timing and the release of the xpac was not coincidental. Blizz wanted to keep themselves in view and steal some of the spotlight.
Now as someone else pointed out, Blizz didn't do anything wrong. It's a legitimate business tactic (there's no reason to think they broke the law). But I'm sure that knowing how Blizz operates, I suspect that EA's motivation is to get the best launch possible.
Ultimately it seems to me that what will save or sink SWTOR is whether it can live up to the hype or not.
Anteia Jun 9th 2011 10:32PM
I'm with Ringo on this one. I don't think Bioware CAN deny their fans a chance to get excited. They've been basically weekly releasing new videos and information. They're keeping the hype up. We might not have a day circled in our calendars yet, but that hasn't stopped anyone from holding a marker, a calendar, and keeping an eye on the computer screen.
Aranyszin Jun 10th 2011 12:11AM
Opting to not announce a release date because you are concerned about what Blizzard is going to do is smart. Admitting that you are "scared" of the competition to any extent isn't.
aerrae Jun 10th 2011 11:01AM
I am not sure, but blizzard is kinda predictable with their releases, and not just for wow, but
other games also. But you can count on a release for a new expansion roughly every two years, and the announcement around the same time... A content patch isnt enough for most people to not move off and try a new game.(its not like an expansion)
Also, if memory is correct, the initial concept of wrath was announced before WHO had a release date, and bliz just put out the expansion in line with how it had for BC... Also, Cata was not as big of an attention holder as expected.
I think if companies can work around blizzards predictability, then they can grab a lot of blizzards customers, use their nature against them!
Vacasta Jun 9th 2011 9:15PM
"Release against the 500 lbs. gorilla, we will not."
Tyrantos Jun 9th 2011 10:00PM
" . . . judge me by my size do you?"