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Pachter backs SWTOR for 50 million monthly users

Despite the (arguably erroneous) gloom over Star Wars: The Old Republic's imminent free-to-play conversion, industry analyst firm Wedbush Morgan is still backing EA strongly - and believes the MMORPG's best days are before it.

In a note issued to investors, Wedbush's Michael Pachter said EA is still a safe bet, and had particularly glowing prediction for the future of BioWare's effort.

"We believe the free-to-play option and lower retail price will combine to significantly increase the number of Star Wars players by the end of the year as the two largest barriers to entry for potential Star Wars gamers (apart from an appreciation for the franchise and PC gaming) have been significantly reduced or eliminated," he wrote.

"We expect the network effect to augment the number of gamers further. In the long-term, we believe the adjustments will result in incremental revenue and earnings growth as high-margin Cartel Coin purchases by a much larger pool of gamers and additional advertising generate more revenue than was lost through declining subscription fees and the lower MSRP."

Just how many gamers does Pachter expect SWTOR to bring in? "At least 10 million MAUs indefinitely, with upside to perhaps 50 million," he said.

Thanks, GamesIndustry.

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Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic

Android, iOS, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch

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Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

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Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

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