There has been a lot of rumours and speculation flying around for a few months regarding a new Bioware created Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic MMORPG and the technology blog on Portfolio.com states that it is going to happen. In the blog, Electronic Arts chief executive John Riccitiello added:
“We’ve got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry indevelopment,” said Riccitiello. The first title, based on the Warhammerproperty, will launch soon. “And the one that people are dying for usto talk to them about — in partnership with Lucas, coming out ofBioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game,full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to tellingyou about it.”
Does Riccitiello mean the oft rumored Knights of the Old Republic Online? “Yes,” he said.Moving into MMOs is an essential component for any gaming company, and it’s a big part of the reason Vivendi merged with Activision, for that company’s World of Warcraft MMO.
Riccitiello told Portfolio.com that he was interested in owning World of Warcraft, and that he did discuss it, but it wasn’t in the cards. “Because [Vivendi] couldn’t afford control of EA, and I wasn’t giving it up.”
But EA is firmly on that path now, with a KOTOR MMO, which would sidestep the consoles owned by Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. “Increasingly, people are going to be talking about direct-to-customer in our business,” said Riccitiello. “I think we’ll be talking about it louder than most.”So no ‘full’ announcement as such but if this article is anything to go by it’s on the cards as many suspected.
