Over a million are interested in Star Wars MMO beta

Somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million people have signed up to be notified of an upcoming beta for Star Wars: The Old Republic, EA CFO Eric Brown has said.

Speaking at a Lazard Capital Markets Technology & Media Day presentation (seen by Gamasutra) Brown said the company has “over one million, closer to 1.5 million” interested in The Old Republic’s upcoming beta.

“It’s a great indicator in the interest level in the franchise,” he said.

Brown refused to offer a firm date for the beta and noted that it is “reasonable to infer” that the full game would not be launching during the company’s next quarter (April through June).

The CFO was also bullish about the game’s potential to reach a wider audience than Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.

“We’re not that concerned about generating initial demand,” he said. “For us it’s about creating the right experience for expanding from tier 1 and the tier 2 users to getting people who have never played an MMO before, but are interested in Star Wars, to engage and give it a try.”

He added: “If we do that, our addressable market is well beyond 12 million people … into more of a general gamer population, pretty much anyone that has a minimum spec personal computer.”