Electronic Arts lost 400,000 subscribers of Star Wars: The Old Republic in the fourth quarter, dealing a blow to its efforts to rely on the new game for growth and sending the game maker’s shares down about 9 percent.

EA has poured more money and firepower into Star Wars: The Old Republic than it has any game in its 30-year history. Wall Street is closely watching to see if the game can succeed, since it could bring EA riches for years to come. If it struggles, EA’s earnings will be hurt in future quarters.

The Interim chief financial officer, Ken Barker, said in an interview that EA was pleased with the stability of the game, but it wanted to raise the subscriber base with the release of two expansion packs this quarter that deliver players more content.

The subscriber numbers EA reported on Monday missed some analysts’ estimates. A Brean Murray analyst, Todd Mitchell, was expecting 1.5 million paying subscribers.