BioWare Gives Pleasing Update On 'Star Wars: The Old Republic' MMO
BioWare made one of the greatest Star Wars video games with Knights of the Old Republic. They followed it up with the also fantastic Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Fans longed for Knights of the Old Republic III, but after The Sith Lords, things went quiet from BioWare. Well, they did go on to make two small indie games called Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect, but things were completely silent on the Star Wars front. Then in 2011 BioWare released their follow-up to Knights of the Old Republic with an MMO aptly titled The Old Republic which, at the time, was the most expensive game ever made. Now, as the 10th anniversary of BioWare’s galactic MMO quickly approaches, BioWare commented on where the game will head to next.
For some, the future of BioWare’s Star Wars MMO seemed hazy at best. With the remake of Knights of the Old Republic being handled by Aspyr Media and EA’s Star Wars contract ending in 2023, it would understandably make fans question The Old Republic’s future. (It would also make fans question why EA has not let BioWare make any other Star Wars games during their contract, but that is neither here nor there.) However, the future of the series seems safe according to the games creative director Charles Boyd. Boyd recently sat down with PC Gamer and spoke about what support the game will have in the future. He simply said that there are “no plans to stop anytime soon.” Not only do they not plan on stopping soon, but there will also be some upcoming changes with the return of a major character.
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In the eighth expansion to the game, fans can look forward to the return of Darth Malgus, who has been freshly resurrected from the dead. While Boyd said that there are no plans to stop supporting the game anytime soon, he did hint that Malgus could bring an end to the story arc thus far.
“Malgus has been around since the start. He’s probably our most recognizable villain. He was first introduced in those CG trailers before the game even launched. So with it now coming around to 10 years, maybe that could happen, maybe some kind of closure for Malgus - whatever that might mean. That could be a reasonable guess.”
One of the game’s biggest selling points at launch was its approach to narrative which saw players experience a unique story based on their chosen class. This was revolutionary for MMOs at the time. However as the game progressed with new expansions, the story naturally became more linear. When asked about returning to the unique story style, Boyd said:
“I think it’s unlikely that we would ever go in a direction where now it’s eight completely separate storylines for several years. That’s just so many things to keep track of and to produce. It’s literally eight times the work, right? But that said, we’re always looking for chances to call out your class versus someone else’s, or your background versus someone else’s, in any of the stories we do.”
It is hard for any developer to continuously support a game for 10 years after launch, and naturally, some compromises have to be made. That being said, it is wonderful that the best Star Wars MMO is still going strong after 10 years, and BioWare has no plans of stopping. It will also be interesting to see how The Old Republic relates to the new Star Wars canon that has been established since the game’s release. There is always the possibility that aspects of the story could make their way into canon, or, more likely, a new canon film or shows could make take inspiration from The Old Republic series. Regardless, it is great that the game is still going strong, and hopefully, it will continue to stay strong with the Force for years to come.
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Source(s): CBR