ASeven wrote on May 22, 2012, 19:30:
Well, this is pretty much it. $300M down the drain with no significant ROI at all...
Wot? The game sold roughly two million copies.
- 2 million x US$ 40 (conservative ASP) = US$ 80 million
- On average 1.5 million subs since release = 1.5 million x US$ 13 (conservative average sub price) = ~US$ 20 million per month x 6 = US$ 120 million
So we're already at around US$ 200 million just from game sales and subs alone (no merchandise, digital goods or anything else included). Subs are dropping slowly and they are now supposed to be around the 1.2 million mark. Let us assume another six months at an average of 1 million subs then that's another US$ 80 million for them and they might be making quite a bit of extra in case there is DLC or expansions released in the meantime.
They'll get their ROI in due time. No game of this caliber will fully recoup the investment within a year's time. It will take a little longer but eventually they will (unfortunately) be making phat profits from this POS.