Star Wars: the Old Republic Launches

[wraggster]

Today marks the official launch (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111220005330/en/EA-BioWare-LucasArts-Usher-Force-Online-Games) of Star Wars: the Old Republic, a new MMOG from BioWare, EA, and LucasArts. The game's population has been building throughout the week as players who pre-ordered were granted early access (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-12-19-bioware-takes-star-wars-the-old-republic-queues-seriously), but now the gates have been thrown open to everyone. By using the Star Warsuniverse and a 'story-driven' approach to MMO gameplay, BioWare hopes to draw in a new group of players who don't typically consider themselves MMO gamers (http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/star-wars-old-republic/all/1). Since the game is still largely unexplored, comprehensive reviews have yet to be written, but Shack News has a write-up about the early game (http://www.shacknews.com/article/71641/star-wars-the-old-republic-first-look). An article at Eurogamer discusses whether this sort of game launch marks the end of an era for the MMOG industry (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-12-15-star-wars-the-old-republic-the-end-of-an-era-preview) — the game's budget is estimated to be as high as $100 million, and it relies on a traditional subscription model when many games are making the switch to free-to-play.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/12/20/1951241/star-wars-the-old-republic-launches