Cowen and Company firm cites “increasing confidence” in BioWare’s upcoming MMORPG; Battlefield 3 to sell 11 million.
Last month, Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter stated that BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic has the potential to sell 2 million units. However, another firm has higher expectations for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
In a note to investors obtained by Gamasutra, Doug Creutz and Jason Mueller of financial firm Cowen and Company stated “increasing confidence” in The Old Republic has convinced the company to update its sales forecast for the title from 1.5 million to 3 million units.
The firm remarked that preorders for The Old Republic on Amazon are tracking “well or better” than StarCraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm at the same period in development, two titles that have sold over 3 million units each.
Additionally, the firm believes The Old Republic has the potential to land 2 million subscribers in its first year, up from the 1 million it forecast earlier. If the game reaches such a subscriber base, The Old Republic would be a big hit by the publisher’s standards. Electronic Arts said in February The Old Republic would be “substantially profitable” with just 500,000 subscribers, with anything above 1 million monthly users making the game “very profitable.”
Cowen and Company also updated its sales forecast for DICE’s upcoming modern shooter Battlefield 3. The company now believes Battlefield 3 is “tracking well” ahead of its release and will sell 11 million units during its first year on the market.
For more on Star Wars: The Old Republic, check out GameSpot’s latest preview of the game.
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