EA loses 400,000 Star Wars: The Old Republic players

Electronic Arts are probably not that chuffed at the turnaround response from the Old Republic, although they remain positive.

A fourth quarter report reveals that their gigantic Star Wars MMO has lost 400,000 subscribers, sending the company’s shares down almost 10 percent.

EA have said they are entirely committed to The Old Republic and have consistently poured money into the game, which launched in mid-December 2011.

Interim Chief Financial Officer, Ken Barker, said that EA is pleased with the stability of the game, but plans to boost its appeal and longevity with two new upcoming expansion packs this quarter.

Third-party servers suggested that there was a significant player drop-off statistic, although BioWare and EA neither denied nor confirmed the state of the MMO – until now.

As the reports from EA’s fiscal results indicate, the subscriptions have dropped from 1.7 million down to a still respectable 1.3 million. So while it’s still a hefty number of players, Star Wars: The Old Republic is not the World of Warcraft killer many people thought it would be.