SOE president praises Bioware’s decision to make SWTOR free-to-play

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has praised Bioware’s decision to add a free-to-play option for its Star Wars themed MMO, The Old Republic. The move came after the previously subscription-based MMO was struggling to build its player-base, falling below one million subscribers.

“It is the only way to go for new games,” he said in a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything).

“It was the right decision for SWTOR (which is a fantastic game). Wait till you see our next round of games after [Planetside 2].”

Smedley also commented on the perennial topic of the slow death of PC gaming, calling it “idiotic garbage”.

“I hate it when people talk about the decline of the PC industry. It’s idiotic garbage spouted by morons that can’t count where the players are playing. It’s not like League of Legends reports numbers to NPD. The players are playing F2P games on the PC not going to retail,” he said.