SWTOR could potentially attain over 1 million paid subscribers

A report from market research firm DFC Intelligence has concluded Star Wars: The Old Republic "has the potential to be a successful long-term online subscription PC game," despite a "general decline in high-end subscription game products and growing competition from numerous free-to-play games."

The data in the report obtained by GI.biz was collected in conjunction with Xfire user data from December 20 through February 20 and a January 2012 Xfire survey which saw over 4,000 participants.

One of the biggest features of  Xfire is that it provides players the ability to track their gaming hours - the main reason we stopped using it as this depressed us a bit.

However, cataloging the many hours of your life you dump into games aside, the data compiled provides DFC and Xfire with important information on current trends in PC gaming and user preferences.

Based on this collected data, DFC is certain SWTOR can maintain one million paying subscribers who pay a sub-fee for over six months at a time.

"The current trend among large massively multiplayer online games is to have strong initial sales, after which users quickly lose interest and are not converted to long-term paying subscribers," said the firm's analyst Jeremy Miller.

"While early signs are fairly positive, over the next few months the plan is to closely monitor usage and consumer reaction to gauge how well Star Wars: The Old Republic performs over time.

"The next three to six months will be critical to determine if the game can attract a large and sustained paying subscriber base."

DFC said its study is an "ongoing initiative" with the Xfire service, which the firm will use to better track core PC games.