‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ Online Multiplayer Videogame Changing Developers
Bioware is moving on from Star Wars: The Old Republic, the free-to-play MMORPG videogame released on PC back in 2011.
According to IGN, publisher EA has decided to move Bioware’s development team away from the game to focus on other projects, hiring third-party developer Broadsword Online Games to take the reins instead. The deal should be finalized this month so Broadsword can take up the mantle in short order.
The Old Republic‘s dedicated community base will be glad to know that Broadsword, who also developed Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot, is run by Rob Denton, a former VP at Bioware who worked on The Old Republic early on in the game’s lifecycle. The current development team for The Old Republic at Bioware is 70-80 people strong, with more than half of those joining Broadsword to continue work on the game. This should mean that the game’s future is in capable hands.
Broadsword will oversee planned content updates, such as the upcoming patch 7.3 and the next PvP season. It is expected that more content updates will be coming in time under the developer’s watch, while EA will continue to publish the game. EA released a statement about the news soon after IGN’s article was published:
Almost 12 years after launch, Star Wars: The Old Republic remains a success and continues to grow its dedicated and passionate community. We’re so proud of the work the team has done, and the future of the game and the community continues to be very bright.
We’re evaluating how we give the game and the team the best opportunity to grow and evolve, which includes conversations with Broadsword, a boutique studio that specializes in delivering online, community-driven experiences. Our goal is to do what is best for the game and its players.
When The Old Republic released 12 years ago it was touted by head of LucasArts as the spiritual sequel to Knights of the Old Republic II, as plans were ditched for an official threequel. The MMO initially used a subscription model, but after the game’s first year brought in low player counts, Bioware pivoted to a free-to-play model and the player base steadily improved, the game ticking along nicely ever since with a slew of content updates and expansions. In 2019, the game was closing in on $1 billion in lifetime revenue.
It is believed that the remaining Bioware developers leaving the project will be offered opportunities to join the development teams for Bioware’s two other projects, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the next Mass Effect sequel respectively, with the former facing challenges after dramatic changes in leadership. Hopefully they can find work after being removed from Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
