Time will tell.

DEC. 26, 2011 • During it first week in release, Star Wars: The Old Republic attracted more than 1 million players worldwide. Electronic Arts, the MMO’s publisher, needs the game to be highly successful to recoup its investment. The Old Republic is oft accused of being the most expensive computer game ever made. If true, BioWare developed title would have cost more to produce than Grand Theft Auto IV, which had a budget of $100 million.

Impact: The fact that Star Wars: The Old Republic attracted so many initial users is no surprise and really does not mean anything.  The challenge for the game is KEEPING subscribers around for more than a few months. Other than World of Warcraft no game from a  U.S. developer has been able to do that.  At GDC 2012 DFC Intelligence will be launching results of a major report analyzing the first two months of operations for the game and its potential to work as a long lasting subscription-based MMOG.