Doug Creutz, analyst for Cowen & Co., believes that EA has spent nearly $500 million dollars to launch Star Wars: The Old Republic.
“I think it’s safe to say that the total all-in investment in ‘Star Wars’ is probably approaching half a billion dollars,” Creutz told Marketwatch. “EA has minimized its risks as much as it can on this bet, but it’s still a risky bet. To the extent that any one game defines his tenure, it’s going to be how ‘Star Wars’ performs.”
While predicting how much money EA has sunk into their new high profile MMORPG has become something of a cottage industry, this latest figure is the largest by far. In December, the New York Times estimated a cost of somewhere between $125 million and $200 million. Last May, Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter theorized that the publisher would spend nearly $80 million on development costs alone.
Last month, EA announced that The Old Republic had drawn more than one million paid subscribers in the game's first three days.
