Bobby Kotick: LucasArts will benefit from Star Wars MMO, Not EA

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick takes a jab at EA, saying at the recent Reuters Media Summit that it will be LucasArts - and not Electronic Arts - that makes out like a bandit when MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic is released. At least he admits that the Star Wars-themed MMORPG will be successful.

"Lucas is going to be the principal beneficiary of the success of Star Wars," Kotick told the Reuters Media Summit. "We've been in business with Lucas for a long time and the economics will always accrue to the benefit of Lucas, so I don't really understand how the economics work for Electronic Arts." "If you look at the history of the people investing in an MMO and achieving success, it's a small number," Kotick continued.

EA's BioWare is developing the game at its Austin, Texas studio. The game is scheduled for release five days before Christmas.

Kotick also talked about Skylanders - the Spyro The Dragon themed game that uses a portal to scan toy action figures into the game. The game is proving to be popular on several platforms and some retailers are running out quickly.

"Retailers across the board are concerned that they will be out of inventory well before Christmas," he said. "There's nothing we can do because they are made offshore and we can't get product made that quickly."

This could be a potential problem for anyone that has already bought Skylanders but wants to collect the 30+ action figures that go with the game.

Source: Reuters by way of GI.biz