14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts is certainly feeling threatened by the merger between Activision and Blizzard. After all, the publishing strength of Activision is a perfect match for the developing capabilities of Blizzard and its MMO muscles. Electronic Arts has hit back the best way it knows, by announcing something big that can showcase the power of the company. This time it was the official confirmation that a new Knight of the Old Republic game, with a massive multiplayer element, was in development.
John Riccitiello, the Chief Executive Officer at Electronic Arts, recently talked with Portofolio.com about the development of the company. Here's the relevant quote: "We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development. [...] And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about, in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it." The reporter then directly asked if he was talking about a KOTOR MMO and Riccitiello bluntly replied "Yes". Rumors state that at the same time the souls of millions of fans around the world were inundated by a feeling of bliss.
From the above statement is seems that LucasArts has a certain level of involvement in the development of the game, even though BioWare, which is currently also working on a role playing title called Dragon Age, seems to be the main developer. The rumors that talked about the fact that since 2006 the Austin studio of the developer has been hard at work on the Star Wars title seem to be confirmed. And the acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic last fall by Electronic Arts makes more sense, given the fact that the company wants to crack the virtual monopoly that Blizzard, through World of Warcraft, has on the MMO market.
Given the fact that now the cat is out of the bag, we're hoping that more information on the project will be available soon, from Electronic Arts, BioWare or LucasArts.