Star Wars: The Old Republic Release to be Limited on All Platforms
BioWare and EA turned a few heads last month when it became clear they were limiting the number of digital copies of the game they would sell at launch. Now Game Informer is reporting that this limitation will extend beyond the digital landscape, as retail versions will be subject to the artificial scarcity as well.
As anyone who has ever played an MMO at launch can tell you, such affairs are usually fairly messy. Servers are often touch and go as hundreds of thousands of people attempt to simultaneously log on, and a number of dormant bugs that slipped through the beta process begin to rear their ugly heads.
EA is hoping to avert such a situation by intentionally limiting just how many people will be able to play The Old Republic on launch day by cutting off digital sales at a certain point and setting the number of retail copies shipped at a hard number. What this number is, exactly, is not being divulged by EA. The idea is to gradually scale up the game’s capacity as demand dictates, though EA’s representative did not know how quick this process would be to roll out.
As of now, The Old Republic does not have a set release date, but if you’re dying to get into the exclusive club that will be allowed to venture into that galaxy far, far away, it sounds like you had better get your pre-order in soon.
So basically, everyone who buys the game before it stops being sold for the first time gets in? Or if your post office sucks and delivers it late (even if you dropped $150 on the CE) you won’t be bale to play?
As long as you get your hands on a copy, you’re fine. The idea is that the number of copies being released is going to be intentionally limited. The article has been updated for clarity on this point.
While I understand their rationale, this seems a little backwards. I assume that as a company managing an MMO, you want as many users as possible.
Think about it: you get an invite to use SW TOR but your friends don’t. Are you going to want to play with complete strangers? Me personally: no.
I think that this is a great idea. Stability on release date for the servers is going to be key to continue interest in this game. There are people who will wait to see if its worthwhile, and with a steady launch, this will help attract them in.
And when playing an MMO, there are lots of times when your friends aren’t online, and you have to play by yourself. While it is fun to level up in a group with your friends, it’s also fun to explore the universe at your own pace. Friends will eventually get on, and if they want to play that bad on opening, pre-order a digital copy.
It might actually be a brilliant business move… Anyone watch South Park? When Eric Cartman bought the themepark and told everyone they could not get in? It made everyone want to go. Bioware is just pulling a Cartman here!
Interesting business move… It screams “We don’t have this game done, so let’s impact only those who REALLY want this game.”
Anyone ever played Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies, Anarchy Online, Earth and Beyond, Shadowbane, Asherons Call 1 and 2, Everquest 2, WoW, etc on launch day? It was horrible. Random crashes, log-in server crashes, etc. Laggy as all get out. Granted WoW, Rift and some others had a bit better launch, but those bugs destroy the enjoyment. I’m glad they’re setting a limit on copies for launch, to me that says they’re still interested in providing a stable quality game.