While it doesn’t grab headlines like some other games in the genre, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been one of the more reliable MMORPGs, maintaining a solid fanbase for over a decade. That said, nothing lasts forever, and it seems BioWare is finally passing the SWTOR off to a new developer. That new developer will be Broadsword Online Games (confirming earlier reports) which is the company that maintains the even older MMORPG, Ultima Online. In other words, SWTOR is definitely entering that final maintenance era. Here’s what BioWare general manager Gary McKay had to say about the change…
“While EA will remain SWTOR’s publisher, development of the game will move to our partner and friends at Broadsword, a boutique studio with expertise in managing online games. Both the Broadsword studio and SWTOR team members will be joining forces and working tirelessly to support “every player, every day,” ensuring that these worlds and these communities continue to thrive and grow. Their Founder and President, Rob Denton, even has direct experience with SWTOR, having helped lead the team during the development and launch of the game during his time at EA.
All current plans are still in place. There are also exciting new features planned that the team is not quite ready to talk about yet, but suffice it to say that players can expect improvements and new content into the future. […] No big change comes without challenges. Among them is the fact that most of the current team will be invited to accompany the game on its move to Broadsword, though unfortunately, not every role will make the move. This is the hardest part of this transition, and these decisions were not made lightly. We are of course doing everything we can to support the affected team members, who have an opportunity to find new roles within EA.”
While this may be concerning for Star Wars: The Old Republic players, others will no doubt be happy to hear this move is being made so BioWare can focus on making “immersive, emotionally charged, single-player games” at their studios in Edmonton and Austin. Speaking of which, BioWare continues to “build, polish, and tune” Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and promise to share more info soon. On the other hand, the new Mass Effect is still in the pre-production phase, so don’t expect to play it anytime soon.
Both Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the next Mass Effect are slated for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. Neither game has a confirmed launch window.
