MARCH 12, 2012 ● Most of the attention on Star Wars MMOs has gone to BioWare’s The Old Republic in recent months. But the other MMO featuring the franchise continues to do very well in its own right. The browser-based and free-to-play Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures from Sony Online Entertainment has reached 10 million registered users in two years.
Impact: Star Wars has tens of millions of fans and, when it comes to games, the issue is how to best monetize those users. Star Wars has been featured in all kinds of video games over the years, and of course the Star Wars universe seems perfectly suited for the type of in-depth play found in MMOs. The issue with free-to-play games is that even at 10 million users the revenue generated is a fraction of what comes from a product sold at retail with a monthly subscription fee on top. On the other hand, development and operating costs for a browser MMO are much lower. These products are not nearly as risky and can increasingly be a way to obtain transmedia synergy for a brand.
