14 DAY TRIAL // Star Wars: The Old Republic is now out and two of the main developers working on the MMO say that they know that it can reach the same success as the Knights of the Old Republic role-playing series that has managed to impress in the early years of the century.
James Ohlen, who is the game director working on The Old Republic, told Gamasutra that he sees his new project “as a continuation of telling stories in that era. They share a lot in common, including the BioWare staples of cinematic storytelling and being able to make choices that impact how your story unfolds.”
The developer says that neither he nor Daniel Erikson, who is the lead writer for the new Star Wars MMO, knew exactly what they were going to be doing when BioWare created its new studio in Austin back in 2005.
Only in late 2006 the full scope of Star Wars: The Old Republic was revealed by Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, who are the founders of BioWare, who were interested in reshaping the way the MMO space worked.
Ohlen added, “I'd worked at BioWare since 1996 -- one year after the founding of the company in 1995 when there were just eight of us in a one-room studio above a coffee shop. I was going to be game director mainly because I had experience in building big games. I'd been lead designer on Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II, as well as on Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic, and I was, at that time, lead designer on Dragon Age.”
Star Wars: The Old Republic is now available both in Europe and in North America and analysts are estimating that 1.5 million gamers were playing it before the official launch day, via the pre-order access options.