EAs Gold

[Smoot]

There are alot of posts that take into consideration EAs "budget" for UO, like would this make a profit, would classic shards be worth the cost, the list goes on and on.

What im always wondering tho, do people think that EA is really concerned about profit from UO? Any profit from this game is so minimal that it probably doesnt even pay for the companies coffee.


UO costs basically nothing to keep running There arent hundreds of people working to put out a game and keep it going, more like a handful. There arent Any UO dedicated GMs anymore to the best of my knowledge.

I really dont see what is costing them money, other than the servers, and meager employee costs for our game.

Ive always thought like many others that EA just keeps UO as a bragging right, and just does as little as possible to keep it there. (the EA standard policy of expansion packs)

So what do you think? Does EA even care about the relatively small income UO generates? Do you think theres any chance of another company buying Mythic? (i think any company could do a better job than EA) Whats the likely hood of UO just going poof one day? (in the case where EA would rather kill the game then let anyone else have rights to it)

Just things that come up in my head when reading alot of posts that mention UO and EA.

 

[Viper09]

I don't know what to think of EA and how they treat UO. But considering the game isn't even listed on EA's site at all, I have to think they don't care at all for UO. Seriously, tons games listed there but no mention of UO.

 

[Uriah Heep]

I doubt EA would ever sell the IP rights to UO. And it makes no sense that they would just pull the plug...as the income goes down (personal opinion says it is going down quarterly, I see fewer and fewer people) the staff will continue to get cut...and we will end up on that "zombie mode" we heard about earlier. After that, it will just be a matter of when electricity cost > subscription payments.

 

[Demonous]

pretty sure uo still has about 50k subscriptions, so what is a subscription monthly like 15 bucks? that totals to 9 million bucks made from subscriptions a year, pretty sure the cost of servers is no where near that at all so they're still making pretty good profit, although some people like myself might do the 6 month payment for 10 bucks a month to save money, well thats just the subscription fee, then u get the tons and tons of people that buy transfer tokens and other tokens and items from EA site, yeah id say they're still making good gold, the community playing uo is dedicated to the game, i made the decision a few yrs ago im not quitting uo, ill stop playing when the plug gets pulled no matter how horrible the game gets

yes id love a classic shard, i used to be purely a pvper day and night but i almost never pvp since the last 2 or 3 years, i just dont like the turn its taken so im more into rares these days

 

[Babble]

There might be various reasons to keep UO around.
For some time it was just to show that they could manage an mmo.

The mythic boss kept UO (when there was talk about closing it) , to be boss of 2 MMOs and trying to establis EA with an MMO portfolio

The last years UO might just be a training ground for developers to train devs and see what works and what does not

 

[Morgana LeFay (PoV)]

It's pretty simple really...EA will leave UO running as long as it is not losing money. If it is not showing at least a break even status, they will pull the plug.

However, getting funds allocated to build new shards, new expansions, etc...that is another story. Just because the game is turning a profit, or breaking even, does not mean that EA will greenlight any project for UO that will cost more than it will take in. Sadly, I think this is where we are with the Classic Shard. It is very difficult to say with any real accuracy how many players would re-subscribe to UO if a Classic Shard were created. That goes for both sides of the argument. We all speculate this and that, but beyond that, we have nothing at all to base our opinions on. Research has been done by Cal and others at Mythic. They have not released their findings to anyone as of yet. However, something tells me that if their findings had been positive, they would not hesitate to start spreading the word that a Classic Shard is coming. If there was to be a Classic Shard, the announcement would come as soon as possible in order to get as many people on board as possible.

I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I seriously doubt that EA is going to greenlight the cost of a Classic Shard at this time...or any other time, because they can see the game's population shrinking. As I said before, the game is at the end of its life cycle. No, it isn't dead, but it isn't thriving anymore...it's basically on life support. In order to get EA to fund projects like Classic Shards, new clients, advertising campaigns, full expansions...all of things you see people asking for...some new sources of revenue is going to have to be found. Sadly, with the addition of the new items in the UOCodes store (or whatever its called), I think that revenue stream is going to come in the form of for-purchase items that actually impact gameplay. Previously, most of the items available there had been decorative...but it looks as though the days of being able to just buy "high end" armor and weapons and other character enhancing items (and possibly gold or skill) are rapidly approaching. Some might find that appealing...others won't.

 

[HD2300]

If a Classic shard doesnt go ahead it is because it is not the best project/idea to implement at this time.

A Classic shard will take a lot of upfront effort and also ongoing effort because the fanbois will insist on "improvements" + very high risk and low returns. imo 6 months after launch you will only have a couple of hundred returning players still subscribing.

In comparison F2P takes a lot less effort, it is moderate risk and has massive returns (LOTRO tripled its profits). It is a no brainer. You pick F2P as the project.

 

[Uvtha]

There are alot of posts that take into consideration EAs "budget" for UO, like would this make a profit, would classic shards be worth the cost, the list goes on and on.

What im always wondering tho, do people think that EA is really concerned about profit from UO? Any profit from this game is so minimal that it probably doesnt even pay for the companies coffee.

Of course they care. They aren't making video games for amusement or keeping the game open out of the goodness of their hearts. The profit on this game is actually probably pretty decent. Assume 100k accounts (high probably) at 12 bucks a month, twelve times a year + codes bought, + expansions bought.

SO even if expenses were something ridiculous like 5 million a year (which seems unlikely) thats 10 million dollars profit a year to the online games division.

Yes, EA is a huge company, yes they make alot of money, but 10 million is not a number any company no matter how large is going to turn down.

 

[HD2300]

Draconi posted recently assume 60k.

As Demonus posted at 50-60k it is still at least 10 million revenue per year.

 

[Babble]

I don't really think it is the profit that they keep uo running at the moment.
EA has to think what else they can offer in a still growing mmo market and people playing uo don't play wow.

EA still hurts from their sims online, warhammer fiasco in terms of mmo marketshare and want to surely have more presence there.

I mean the company that produces 'Rift' intends to bring out 2-3 different mmos based on the engine and code they developed with Rift. Where is one of the biggest gaming companies in the mmo market? Except for SWTOR there is nothing to show and if that bombs EA maybe better stays with console gaming.

 

[Smoot]

Lots of good insight and thoughts here. I guess i was thinking that most of EAs other games sell millions and millions of copies, and they also have all the phone apps and other things. I didnt really consider that EA doesnt have successful subscription based games, so i guess UO makes a more sizable chunk than i thought.

But if thats the case, it does make me mad that more attention isnt paid to our game if its a valued income to EA.

I know no one at EA, or even most of the dev team really know the game like the players do, and that they do their best. But i do know that EA gives them deadlines to put out expansion packs and the like. In my opinion EA thinks little boosters like high seas will keep people playing. SA was nice, but i didnt even get high seas. I have a feeling we will see more of these little boosters, but they only keep people playing for what? A month till the major bugs get worked out, then maybe another month, then people lose interest.

This thread wasnt really about what will keep people playing UO, so i wont go there, but it seems to me that if UO is actually making EA a decent profit that they should do more to keep us playing the game (and keep us off the private servers)

 

[Babble]

The decision to make boosters was set up for all of EA's mmos.

 

[Demonous]

i do wish that UO would have GMs that are dedicated to UO like years ago, you could page a gm, in minutes they would come down and talk to you, actually show up in game and talk, not talk with the chat system... also years ago GMs would suspend people that scammed other people, friend of mine got suspended for spamming at the britain blacksmith shop that he was repairing weapons and when someone gave him a longspear of power he ran away with it, 15 mins later his account was suspended for 15 days... someone used a bug to scam me out of my house years ago and i paged a gm, gm transferred the house back to me and suspended the guy, now the only thing a gm responds to is if you use the N or R word in game

 

[Lord Frodo]

On Friday, 01/07/11, starting at 9:00AM EST the following shards will experience rolling downtimes as we deploy new hardware (in this order):

•Pacific
•Baja
•Sonoma
•Lake Austin
•Napa Valley
•Oceania

Must be making money somewhere because EA is not going to foot the bill for this just because it is nice.

Waiting for East Coast and all other shards hardware upgrade to make them the same as West Coast/Oceania.

 

[UOKaiser]

I doubt EA would ever sell the IP rights to UO. And it makes no sense that they would just pull the plug...as the income goes down (personal opinion says it is going down quarterly, I see fewer and fewer people) the staff will continue to get cut...and we will end up on that "zombie mode" we heard about earlier. After that, it will just be a matter of when electricity cost > subscription payments.

sadly this zombie mode would truly be the end for uo. Last zombie mode was ok as there where very difficult long term goals to achieve things that took years. Seemingly every goal that you can think of can now be achieved in such little time a zombie mode will destroy UO this time.

 

[AesSedai]

On Friday, 01/07/11, starting at 9:00AM EST the following shards will experience rolling downtimes as we deploy new hardware (in this order):

•Pacific
•Baja
•Sonoma
•Lake Austin
•Napa Valley
•Oceania

Must be making money somewhere because EA is not going to foot the bill for this just because it is nice.

Waiting for East Coast and all other shards hardware upgrade to make them the same as West Coast/Oceania.

- I was thinking some of this hardware might be from Warhammer. Just a guess.

To the OP:
So what do you think? Does EA even care about the relatively small income UO generates?
- Sure they care; I reckon if it was not making them some money then we would not be playing it. They care about making money. Also with the StarWars MMO they are working on they probably like to be able to boast they have the longest running MMO according to the Guinness Book of World Records, even though they are neglecting UO by not providing enough resources to fix what already is (and I hope that is brought up when they start to heavily advertise their new MMO... although I hope EA/BiowareMythic considers this and pours more resources into UO before that time.. ).

Do you think theres any chance of another company buying Mythic? (i think any company could do a better job than EA)?
- Close to nill; even games they created that totally flopped cost mega bucks to try to obtain the intellectual property.. they do not let go of their IPs very readily. They've licensed several 'Ultima' games recently, so the IP is still of value to them.. so I believe the answer to this is: close to nill.

Whats the likely hood of UO just going poof one day? (in the case where EA would rather kill the game then let anyone else have rights to it)
- This is what will most likely happen and long ago they said we will get a 60 or 90 day advance notice. My only guess on the likelihood of this happening is: not at this time but the end is closer than it was yesterday (same answer as always).

 

[Lady Storm]

Unfortunatly I know corprates like EA, by way of the stocks I have owned over the years.

EA will let UO run till it cuts into the profets that pay those who ether are on the board or own stock in EA.

Stockholders hold the most power outside the board of directors, the money outlay is big so a game like UO is paultry compaired to other titles and venue of EA.

If numbers are to be beleaved to be under 75k for UO (75k I'll use as a standard as I like a glass half full as to a glass half empty)
Here is the math :

12.99 a month per account (this does not reflect multi month payments as they reduces
the net gross income to the game)

x 75k
________
974,250$ a month take in
x 12 months (1 year)
_______________________
11,691,000
Mind you this is a super rough estamate of yearly gross income not counting the EA Store sales and the gamecode store.

Salary of employees : this includes the Dev, down to the janitor who cleans up at night have to come out of this money. Equipment and supplies are also tabulated from this.
Web cost and regular business needs, phone, gas, electricity, cable taxes*
* taxes might be paid for mEA getneral fund for such as a whole.

EA is still getting a profet from UO slight compaired to other titles and venue of sales, But it pulls it own still and gives some to the corprate end.

EA is not a company who would sell off any part of it's holdings as it would give the impression of distress and there fore upset the stockholders that there is a problem in EA.
Like it or not we are stuck with them... only way I see it changing is a major stock shift.
Any one want to buy the stock???

 

[Macrophage999]

Unfortunatly I know corprates like EA, by way of the stocks I have owned over the years.

EA will let UO run till it cuts into the profets that pay those who ether are on the board or own stock in EA.

Stockholders hold the most power outside the board of directors, the money outlay is big so a game like UO is paultry compaired to other titles and venue of EA.

If numbers are to be beleaved to be under 75k for UO (75k I'll use as a standard as I like a glass half full as to a glass half empty)
Here is the math :

12.99 a month per account (this does not reflect multi month payments as they reduces
the net gross income to the game)

x 75k
________
974,250$ a month take in
x 12 months (1 year)
_______________________
11,691,000
Mind you this is a super rough estamate of yearly gross income not counting the EA Store sales and the gamecode store.

Salary of employees : this includes the Dev, down to the janitor who cleans up at night have to come out of this money. Equipment and supplies are also tabulated from this.
Web cost and regular business needs, phone, gas, electricity, cable taxes*
* taxes might be paid for mEA getneral fund for such as a whole.

EA is still getting a profet from UO slight compaired to other titles and venue of sales, But it pulls it own still and gives some to the corprate end.

EA is not a company who would sell off any part of it's holdings as it would give the impression of distress and there fore upset the stockholders that there is a problem in EA.
Like it or not we are stuck with them... only way I see it changing is a major stock shift.
Any one want to buy the stock???

I personnally believe UO is generating a LOT of money. According to your guestimates, how much do you think is their benefit a year? 7M? 5M? if that s 60% of their incomes then it is really incredible profit, and it sounds really possible... So UO is an incredibly profitable industry. Even if 500K is not huge for EA, noone would pull the plug of a company that makes 60% of their incomes in benefit... And everyone would dream of owning a company like that.

 

[kelmo]

Factor in EA does not want to pull out of the MMO market.

 

[Evlar]

I doubt EA would ever sell the IP rights to UO. And it makes no sense that they would just pull the plug...as the income goes down (personal opinion says it is going down quarterly, I see fewer and fewer people) the staff will continue to get cut...and we will end up on that "zombie mode" we heard about earlier. After that, it will just be a matter of when electricity cost > subscription payments.

Although doubtful they would sell the rights completely, they have sold the rights to NetDragon to produce a version of UO specifically orientated at the Chinese and southern Asian market, including India.

This was reportedly done with initial support from Mythic, to get the "theme" of the game right.

I've not seen any reports other than the initial press-release on different websites. Nothing has been released regarding development progress or release dates (at least not in English), but development of a new UO game is featured as part of NetDragon's portfolio on their website.

You could interpret that move in many ways. If the NetDragon version proved to be a resounding success for its Asian market audience, then as with many Korean games for example, you could then see it expand into the western market with EA's blessing and thus spell the end for UO as we know it.

If that were the case, then any lack of investment, cuts in developers, etc... are entirely no surprise.