The past perceived failure of Mythic Entertainment’s Warhammer Online has made them nervous about an MMO that reportedly has a budget of over $100M. Their fears are not allayed by Realtime Worlds’ All Points Bulletin’s quick collapse earlier in 2010.
According to Hickey, ”We believe many investors are betting against SWTOR achieving market success, provided the company’s (Warhammer Online from Mythic) and industry’s track record at releasing successful new MMOs,” and adds that the fact the MMO industry is chiefly transitioning from a subscription model to a free-to-play model may hurt its chances as well.
What the MMO does have going for it is that the game owns the Star Wars license and is being developed by trusted developer BioWare, who made one of the most popular Star Wars and roleplaying games in recent history, Knights of the Old Republic, on which the MMO is mostly based.
The game is due to be released this coming Summer, 2011.