EA CFO says BioWare's sci-fi MMORPG has well over a million waiting to test the game; more info due during E3.
It would be an understatement to say that Electronic Arts would love to turn the massively multiplayer online role-playing genre on its head with Star Wars: The Old Republic. However, completely rewriting that landscape isn't a necessity for the BioWare Austin-developed sci-fi online game, as EA has said that the game could be "substantially profitable" with just 500,000 subscribers.
Beta signups have started for the highly-anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, LucasArts and BioWare announced today.
Fans looking for a chance to test this massive online game can do so by going to the office website and go to your new account page and opt in for testing.
LucasArts notes the testing will be an ongoing process, but spots will be limited. So don't wait to sign up.
Last month, BioWare and Mythic announced a merger of sorts, stemming from a restructuring in EA's RPG and MMO games development department.
"..when asked if he would use Mythic's experience with MMOGs (Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online) on Star Wars: The Old Republic, he said "oh yeah, without a doubt."
Attempting to build a bridge with which to cross [the divide between MMORPG and good storytelling] would be an extremely ambitious undertaking. Fortunately, Bioware is a studio well versed in ambition -- and, if our brief time with the game is any indication, Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to irrevocably change the way MMOs tell stories.
Star Wars has a spotty history with massively multiplayer online fans. Who better to salvage the zero for one record than role-playing game developers Bioware?
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What Needs Improvement?
Not a thing. Seriously.
The Old Republic's Web site has put up a bio for the upcoming game's bounty hunter class [...] what would be a Star Wars universe without bounty hunters, whose presence have been felt in all of the movies going back to the original. Pick this class and you'll likely get assignments to take out Jedi. The write-up sheds a little light on the Sith Empire's policy of death markers and the quilted quicker-picker-uppers who collect on them.
Star Wars: The Old Republic will have “more story content and sheer square feet of territory than every single [sic] BioWare game that has been created and released to date.” That was what we were told practically from the onset of the press event for the unveiling of SW: TOR. BioWare isn’t a sissy when it comes to creating RPGs, either. The company has developed numerous titles that have entertained millions of gamers for a countless hours.
LucasArts and BioWare have finally officially announced their joint massively-multiplayer online game at an event in San Francisco today. Titled Star Wars: The Old Republic, the new game is the first MMO for BioWare and the second Star Wars MMO for LucasArts.
In an interview at E3 this week, Electronic Arts chief executive John Riccitiello said that EA is working on the next version of Star Wars game Knights of the Old Republic, and it will most certainly have a massively multiplayer online component to it.
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