The Un-named LucasArts and Bioware game has been labled as a KOTOR MMO by Bioware parent company EA. From Joystiq:
Portfolio.com just published a short excerpt of its interview with EA boss John Riccitiello who tells the site that it’s “got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development” including “the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about — in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare.” One doesn’t need to connect too many dots to arrive at the conclusion that BioWare is returning to the Star Wars universe with a Knights of the Old Republic MMO.
Of course, this product has been rumored for … well, for a long time. Separately confirming a BioWare / LucasArts collaboration and a BioWare MMO project lead to certain obvious conclusions and countless other rumors and leaks seemed to do everything but confirm (and some denied) the project’s existence. Though it would appear Riccitiello wasn’t quite ready to put a name on that project – it’s Portfolio.com connecting those dots – by referencing that this is the game that “people are dying for us to talk to them about” he clearly seems to be pointing to KOTOR.
[Update: We've just spoken with N. Evan Van Zelfden, the writer of the report, who told us that when asked specifically if this game was "KOTOR Online", Riccitiello responded unequivocally, "Yes." So, there you have it – sounds like we can take off our skeptical glasses.]
And there you have it. It’s far from official (as there has been no annoucnement from LucasArts or Bioware) but I think we can bet it’s coming. Chances are also good that this game will be the one that uses the names that LucasArts trademarked earlier this week (or maybe late last week).
On July 3rd, 2008, LucasFilm filed for trademarks for the following:
Star Wars The Old Republic
Star Wars Sagas
Star Wars Legends
The trademarks have been registered for “Entertainment services provided on-line by means of global and local area networks, namely, providing interactive computer game software, interactive video game software and interactive computer games and interactive video games, all on-line by means of global and local area networks”
You can view a screenshot of the trademark for “Star Wars the Old Republic” here. It is important to note that these trademarks were registered in the same way as the trademark for “Star Wars Galaxies”. These are officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It appears that at least one of these titles may be used to create a new online Star Wars game. “The Old Republic” title makes me think about that KOTOR MMO everyone’s been talking about.
Update: In a forum on Ahazi.org, a user has posted that he took a survey on surveyspot.com about a Star Wars MMO called Star Wars: The Old Republic. He lists some of the features described in the survey here. This post was made long before the names from the trademarks surfaced.
Kotaku reports that Amazon has Battlefront listed for 2009.
Retailer Amazon has listed tentative dates and platforms for Star Wars Battlefront III, long rumored to be in development at Free Radical, developers of Haze and Timesplitters. While we’ve been under the impression that the UK based dev was hard at work we didn’t know how hard at work they are. According to Amazon, Battlefront III is coming to everything — Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, PSP, PlayStation 2. OK, not everything, since it doesn’t list a PC version, but if these listings are accurate, anyone and everyone will have access to a version of the game come March 2009. We await more news at E3 next week.
I believe that LucasArts announced that no new games would be announced at E3 but this may change things.
With the release of Chapter 10: Game Update 5, fully integrated voice chat can now be found in Star Wars Galaxies. Coming to Star Wars Galaxies players at no additional cost, voice chat can now be used to chat with your guild and groups!
The integration of the in-game voice chat brings several brand new UI elements: the Voice Bar, the Voice Users Window, and a new voice tab in the Options window. In addition to these improvements, there will be a speaking indicator in the group window, a target window, and you will see a name plate of those using voice chat above their characters.
For more information on all of the improvements and how to use the new chat feature, check out the announcement article for the voice chat here. It seems pretty simple to me and a lot of fun. Looks like an awesome time to join SWG to me as well.
In honor of “Star Wars: Galaxies’” fifth birthday, Lucasarts and Sony Online have announced a new cardgame based on the game entitled “Star Wars Galaxies: Champions of the The Force,” which will be released “Summer 2008″ for current and active Galaxies players. It’s the first ever online cardgame. Here’s a short description of the game:
“Now the Galactic Civil War continues on a whole new playing field with the introduction of the Star WarsStar Wars® trading card game is available exclusively to Star Wars Galaxies subscribers* as part of their valid subscription to the game.”
For more information about the game and how to get it, check out its site here. Also be sure to check out the official Press Release.
The image you see above is the cover for the upcoming “Star Wars: The Clone Wars–Lightsaber Duels” for the Nintendo Wii, slated to hit stores this Holiday season. It was found here, on Wii Topia, by our friends over at Jedi News. What do you think about it? You can click the image to see a larger version. Place your thoughts here!
According to Joystiq, it appears that LucasArts may have cut part of the development team that created The Force Unleashed. This took place earlier this month during their recent downsizing.
LucasArts may be “proud of the work” that members of its internal Star Wars: The Force Unleashed team put forth on the upcoming title, but Joystiq has learned that it nevertheless laid off a number of key personnel on the title earlier this month during its company-wide downsizing.
We spoke with one now ex-member of the team, who told us that the layoffs came just as work on the game was wrapping up.
The article continues, this time looking towards the future of the TFU.
Should The Force Unleashed live up to the hype surrounding it, and a sequel is ordered, the current team size is said to be insufficient to handle such an undertaking. Given the fact that LucasArts stressed a continued commitment to internal developement following the layoffs, it will just need to re-staff for such a project – in which case, it has already let some top talent go – unless it intends to outsource to an external developer.
I’m not sure how a sequel to TFU would work but Joystiq’s analysis of the future seems dead-on. Things definitely seem to be changing at LucasArts but only time will tell what happens. Kotaku also has a similar rumor looking at the future of LucasArts.
Shacknews is reporting, via “a reliable source,” that once Star Wars: The Force Unleashed drops in mid-September, LucasArts will pinkslip another 100 employees and quit internal development.
That would be the untitled Indiana Jones third-person actioner, and according to Shacknews, the remainder of its work, left after The Force Unleashed hits the street, will be outsourced.
All rumors seem to be pointing to a dramatic decrease in LucasArts internal development even though they have announced a dedication to it. Things definitely seem to be changing at LucasArts but only time will tell what happens.
UPDATE: LucasArts contacted Kotaku and informed them that the layoffs to the TFU team were part of the cuts mentioned earlier this month. There have be no further cuts since that time.
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the first, and only, Star Wars MMO, “Star Wars: Galaxies.” Since 2003, SWG has been making living in Star Wars Universe possible. There are a lot of events planned for the celebration in-game, so check them all out here. The main event is entitled “Empire Day” and it begins today! Chapter 10 is also online, so you’ll have an added surprise when you log on; check out the information on Chapter 10 here. If you haven’t already, this is a perfect time to join in on the fun and buying and playing Galaxies. Happy fifth Galaxies, and here’s to five more!
After a long anticipated return, Game Trailers.com returns to their Star Wars video game retrospective for the fifth episode “Episode V-The Battlefield.” They go over Rebellion, Force Commander, Galactic Battlegrounds, Empire at War, and Battlefront. You can check it all out below!
As promised, Spike TV’s GameTrailer TV debuted the trailer for the now upcoming “Star Wars: The Clone Wars–Lightsaber Duels” for the Nintendo Wii. It can be seen below, while the game will be seen this holiday season.
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