14 DAY TRIAL // We know a lot about the BioWare-made MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic but, despite all the information about the combat, the development of characters and the way the story is build, the developers and publisher Electronic Arts are still not ready to give a clear launch date for the game.
James Ohlen, who is the game director working on Star Wars: The Old Republic, has spoken to Newsrama about the lack of a release date for the game and said, “We don’t want to give a specific release date until we’re absolutely certain that when we launch the game it’ll be a smooth launch and a bug-free experience.”
He added, “It would be terrible if we released and the servers fell down or there was a bug that detracted from the overall experience. It’d be terrible for the Star Wars fans… and it’d be disappointing for the team members. People like myself, I’ve been on this project for six years. I want it to live up to the expectations.”
At the moment Electronic Arts says that the MMO will be released in time for Christmas, but it could still be pushed back further, maybe even into the early months of 2012.
Previously, The Old Republic was set to be released before the end of summer and rumors put the launch date before the end of 2010.
The long development title for the first BioWare made MMO might be linked to a desire for great quality on launch, as Ohlen states, but it could also be something linked to the lack of experience that the studio has with the genre.
BioWare says that they are aiming to revolutionize the narrative side of the genre they are working on while also delivering a solid game with recognizable mechanics and a clear connection to the Star Wars universe.