Star Wars: The Old Republic draws more than 1 million

At least one analyst has already estimated the subscriber base of Star Wars: The Old Republic at 1.5 million players or more, but Electronic Arts is touting a more down-to-earth number for its latest massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The publisher this week proclaimed that more than 1 million gamers ventured into The Old Republic this holiday season, reiterating claims that the Bioware-developed title is the "fastest-growing subscription MMO in history."


Contrary to this picture, the Sith outnumber the Jedi.
EA also offered a handful of new data points for the game, saying cumulative playtime for last weekend had topped 5.5 million hours. As for which side of the Force players hewed toward, EA said the allure of the Dark Side was slightly more powerful, with more than 850,000 Sith warriors created, compared to 810,000 Jedi knights.

Earlier this month, EA revealed that the beta for The Old Republic had attracted 2 million players. Electronic Arts said in February The Old Republic would be "substantially profitable" with just 500,000 subscribers, with anything above 1 million monthly users making the game "very profitable."