The Old Republic hits 1.7 million subscribers worldwide

As part of its most recent quarterly earnings report, Electronic Arts revealed that its major MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, has attracted 1.7 million active subscribers, and has sold more than 2 million units since its launch in December. These figures indicate continued growth for the subscription-based game, which passed the 1 million player mark just three days after its launch. The numbers also fall roughly in line with recent analyst estimates. In January, Wedbush Securities estimated that the game would sell 1.7 million units during the fiscal quarter, with 2 million units shipped to retailers. Prior to the game's launch, other analysts, including Cowen and Company, predicted that The Old Republic would sell roughly 3 million units in by this point, with subscribers passing the 2 million mark. Along with every purchase of The Old Republic, players get one month of free game time, perhaps influencing the game's initial subscriber numbers. During EA's investor conference call today, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said that the game's subscriber numbers include all players with an active account, whether they are using the game's one month free trial, pre-paid time cards, or online subscriptions. Those not included this figure include users that have either not activated their accounts or those that have cancelled their subscriptions. Looking at data from the game itself, Gibeau said that the game currently sees as many as 1 million unique logins per day, with the average session clocking in at around 4 hours. In addition to these figures, EA also revealed that its popular multiplatform titles Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 have each sold through more than 10 million units, and Madden NFL has sold through nearly 5 million units. Previously, EA reported that it had shipped 10 million units of Battlefield 3 to retailers just a week after the game's October launch.