The game is still scheduled to be released this year, and EA CFO Eric Brown stated at the Lazard Capital Markets Technology & Media Day that there was very little chance of the game seeing the light of day between April and June, the company’s first fiscal quarter. Brown also discussed the importance of early interest in the game, as well as how this interest could factor into EA’s long-term plans for The Old Republic.
EA’s current focus is to expand the market of an MMO to a much larger and broader audience:
The mission walkthrough video from PAX East demonstrates a game that might be able to draw a crowd, and with the Star Wars universe as a backdrop, its hard to imagine this game failing. Despite that, EA understands just how difficult it can be to please the current audience while attempting to excite newcomers. If they can manage to find a way to do both:
The 12 million people figure, of course, refers to World of Warcraft’s current population, one that EA and BioWare apparently believe they can surpass. The Game Rant Coalition remains anxious to see if EA’s prediction comes true later this year.
Are you one of the 1.5 million that have signed up for The Old Republic open beta? If so, does the recent news make BioWare’s new MMO even more appealing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Star Wars: The Old Republic will release in 2011 for the PC, with the open beta sometime beforehand.
Source: Gamasutra
