Pachter: Dragon Age 3 devs ‘loaned’ to SWTOR

Michael Pachter believes that Bioware transferred developers from Dragon Age 3 to work MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The Wedbush Securities analyst speaks as EA stocks hit a new low following the news STWOR is already losing subscribers, and it seems the MMO may have cost EA more than investors.

"Dragon Age III appears to have slipped to FY:14," Pachter told Games Industry International.

"We had previously expected the next Dragon Age to be released in Q4:13, two years after its predecessor. However, we believe that a significant portion of the BioWare team responsible for the game was reassigned to Star Wars in order to create content and fix bugs to keep the game’s audience engaged."

Despite worries that subscribers have already dipped to 1.3 million- a 23 percent loss- EA remains adamant that STWOR is profitable.

With the delay of another key franchise, the publisher may be in for worse than lost subscriptions, though Pachter is adamant that things will turn out well for EA.

"We remain incorrigibly positive on the EA story," he said.

"Despite a relatively low number of packaged good releases this year, we expect EA to grow revenue and earnings," he added, citing strong growth in the company’s digital sector.