Star Wars: The Old Republic Focuses on the Player, Says BioWare

The MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) genre is a pretty big one, but one of the most popular themes that appear on this market is the space one. Although EVE Online is currently the most popular space-themed game, a lot of other titles are beginning to show promise and will certainly make this genre very popular.

One of the most ambitious projects is the Star Wars: The Old Republic title, which is currently being developed by Electronic Arts' BioWare studio, makers of the original RPG series Knights of the Old Republic, and LucasArts, the owners of the Star Wars IP (Intellectual Property). Even though fans are eagerly anticipating any tidbit of information, the developers haven't really made any big statements, only saying that it will dominate the space-themed MMORPG genre, and that it will make a big dent in the World of Warcraft user base.

However, Greg Zeschuk, one of the co-founders of the BioWare studio recently unveiled some new details about this future game. He talked with 1Up and said that Star Wars: The Old Republic would deliver a great experience, which focused on the individual player, no matter what side he was on. Zeschuk then went on to say that the game would gather every good part of the other space-themed MMORPGs and combine them with an element of choice.

“Our real focus is on the player, on being the hero or the villain in the Star Wars universe. It's not so much a grand story involving everyone so much as you and your own personal experience. That's really where our focus is. It's the thing that makes you want to, every day, progress along the path that you've been on. It's really the concept of all the good things you've seen in MMOs and adding in the story and, really, the choice element, the making-the-choice stuff. I think it just changes the dynamic so much for the game.”

Although these statements are something quite common for developers, this new online Star Wars game is looking very good, and, even though the speculative 2009 release hasn't yet been confirmed, fans might see it during next year's holiday season.