SWTOR free-to-play a 'straightforward decision'

Subscription fees the biggest turn-off for most fans, says Bioware GM Matthew Bromberg

Shifting the troubled MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic to a hybrid business model was a "straightforward decision".
SWTOR had 1.7 million users at peak, but nine months later that figure has nearly halved, dropping below a million.

"We looked at it and thought, what is the size of opportunity for your brand?" Bromberg told CVG.
"There are tens of millions of Star Wars fans, how many have tried our game? How many would like to try it? Clearly the awareness of the brand is really high so what's standing in the way?
"We did a lot of research and found that people who gave it a try but left found the subscription to be the biggest barrier. So it was a pretty straightforward decision for us."

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...rward-decision