Electronic Arts confirmed today that its highly anticipated, Bioware-developed Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, will be released some time in the company's 2012 fiscal year, which starts in April, 2011.
Speaking at the Credit Suisse 2010 Technology Conference, which Gamasutra listened in on, EA CFO Eric Brown said this was the first time the company had gone on record with this target ship date for the game.
In a May presentation, Brown said the game was "not expected" in fiscal 2010, but today's statement was much more definitive about the release timing, placing it sometime in the nine-month window encompassed by the 2012 fiscal year and the 2011 calendar year.
The newly confirmed release timing doesn't necessarily conflict with a "spring 2011" release target posted by former Bioware Community Leader Sean Dahlberg on The Old Republic's official forums in January. It does, however, seem to eliminate the possibility the game will see a release in the first quarter of the 2011 calendar year, as some still hoped.
The game looks great but I only hope for EA and Bioware that the game will be launched before Blizzard starts to tease MMO players with their upcoming next-gen MMO. I do trust Bioware with the work they are doing, but when Blizzard launch something new... well, its always bigger than what the others are doing.
MMO's need way too many things to go right to stand a chance against WoW (timing, gameplay, content, etc). It generally seems that they all draw from the same pool of players.
Maybe its the fantasy setting and this one clearly being different it can buck that trend (if any IP and or company is ever to have a chance against WoW one would think this is it).
I think EA/Bioware will be watching cataclysm much more than the unannounced MMO
Maybe its the fantasy setting and this one clearly being different it can buck that trend (if any IP and or company is ever to have a chance against WoW one would think this is it).
I think EA/Bioware will be watching cataclysm much more than the unannounced MMO