Analyst: A Mass Effect MMO Could Earn More For EA Than The Old Republic

While Electronic Arts has invested millions into making Star Wars: The Old Republic an online powerhouse, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey said that an MMO based on BioWare's Mass Effect could bring in even more money for the publisher. "Looking forward, we believe BioWare could develop an MMO based on their highly successful Mass Effect franchise, which should have a considerably better (relative StarWars MMO) margin profile, given the dilutive nature of the LucasArts royalty," Hickey said in a recent investor note. Hickey also pointed out opportunities for EA to leverage the Battlefield license, saying that the company could release a new entry in the series on an annual basis. "We suspect they could release a Battlefield franchise game annually, switching between Battlefield and Bad Company versions, similar to how Activision manages their Call of Duty franchise." EA has previously acknowledged that it considers the upcoming Battlefield 3 to be in direct competition to Activision's Call of Duty franchise, noting that the title was "designed to take [Call of Duty] down."