We all know that SWTOR going free to play is big news. But what we don’t know yet is just how big it might be for the game itself. I personally know a lot of people who say they will play if it goes free now it is. Star Wars: The Old Republic could attract up to 50m monthly players says Wedbush!

This could be very good news for the company which has been suffering a stock loss since November. Investors want to see some results and they expected a lot from this game so the new model may be just what is needed to get numbers back in the positive direction they want to see again.

Michael Pachter, industry analyst for Wedbush says:

“We remain incorrigibly positive on the EA story. Despite a relatively low number of packaged good releases this year, we expect EA to grow revenue and earnings, primarily due to unrivaled digital strength. We believe EA represents the best opportunity for investors to benefit from continued digital growth for the industry next year, as well as from a likely rebound in packaged goods sales next year,” wrote Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter in an investors note.

Pachter has a pretty decent record of being on target with predictions like this so I look forward to seeing how close he is on this one.

SOE president says the free to play model is the best move they could have made:

“It is the only way to go for new games,” he said. “It was the right decision for SWTOR – which is a fantastic game.”

Smedley also said the firm is working on “undisclosed IPs” in addition to Plaentside 2, which goesinto beta on Monday.

“Wait untill you see our next round of games after PS2,” he said, adding that he has worked closely with the team on the design of Planetside 2.

You can read the entire IAmA through the link.

He has a pretty good point. As a gamer, I know most of my friends say they are tired of paying so much for games and game subscriptions. More and more people like the idea of paying only for what they want in a game, such as through microtransactions, rather than paying monthly subs on a game just to be able to log in and check out your characters.

What do you think?