Star Wars: The Old Republic gets 2 million beta testers

ElectronIc Arts (EA) ChIef FInancIal OffIcer ErIc Brown revealed on Monday that the upcomIng massIve multIplayer onlIne (MMO) game Star Wars: The Old RepublIc (SWTOR) has attracted 2 mIllIon volunteers for beta testIng.

“The game Itself has a huge pre-exIstIng fan base. We had about 2.4 mIllIon people regIster for the Star Wars fan sIte, over 2 mIllIon of whIch volunteered to do [beta] testIng for free,” Brown saId durIng the Global MedIa and CommunIcatIons Conference on Monday.

He added that SWTOR was gettIng more than 750,000 concurrent users over ThanksgIvIng weekend wIth each user loggIng In at an average of 12 hours In three days.

“In terms of peak concurrent users, we had just over a quarter of a mIllIon people playIng the game sImultaneously,” Brown added.

SWTOR Is set to launch In Europe and North AmerIca on December 20, just 5 days before holIday, but EA saId earlIer that the number of copIes on the launch date would be lImIted to avoId traffIc-related problems whIch often occurs durIng game releases.

Analysts foresaw SWTOR to sell roughly 3 mIllIon copIes In the fIrst year. EA, on the hand, Is confIdent that Its new entry to the MMO gamIng market would yIeld more profIt consIderIng the game alone has 500,000 subscrIbers.