“Millions of voice suddenly cried out” when discovering that the Star Wars Galaxies gaming saga will come to a climactic end on December 15th. LucasArts and Sony have decided to turn the Death Star on the much-loved MMORPG.
Star Wars Galaxies blasted off in 2003, with millions of copies sold. The multiplayer pay-to-play title is set between the films A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and puts gamers in a role-playing scenerio in the same universe as their heroes but expanding on the movie experience and enviroments. Billing for the online gaming will stop in October and those faithful who are one with the Force will enjoy the final 2 months free of charge as the end credits prepare to roll.
This was confirmed in an email sent to members heralding the end of eight-years of game play in galaxies far, far away – and an interview with Sony Online Entertainment Boss John Smedley suggests that a couple rebellious factors contributed to the decision. The contract for Star Wars games ending in 2012 and the release of a new Star Wars title – namely Bioware’s Old Republic as announced at the E3 conference – has made Sony think “it’s the right time for the game to end”.
But there’s still a lot to look forward to, and particularly for PC gamers it seems Sony are promising something new and exciting for the multiplayer experience online. Smedley saying “It’s going to fill a large hole, and we’re certainly happy to see Star Wars players be taken care of and get into a game that’s going to be great”.
It had been reported that interest in Star Wars Galaxies was dwindling, and along with the hacks on the Playstation Network it was presumed that these may be reasons behind why the story is coming to as close this December. But with those PSN mistakes hopefully behind us, and the popularity of the Star Wars franchise ever-growing – unless Sony are pulling a Jedi Style fast one on us it doesn’t seem either of those points were deciding factors.
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