EA: Star Wars: The Old Republic Not Coming Before April 2011

Electronic Arts confirmed today that its highly anticipated, Bioware-developed Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, will be released some time in the company's 2012 fiscal year, which starts in April, 2011. Speaking at the Credit Suisse 2010 Technology Conference, which Gamasutra listened in on, EA CFO Eric Brown said this was the first time the company had gone on record with this target ship date for the game. In a May presentation, Brown said the game was "not expected" in fiscal 2010, but today's statement was much more definitive about the release timing, placing it sometime in the nine-month window encompassed by the 2012 fiscal year and the 2011 calendar year. The newly confirmed release timing doesn't necessarily conflict with a "spring 2011" release target posted by former Bioware Community Leader Sean Dahlberg on The Old Republic's official forums in January. It does, however, seem to eliminate the possibility the game will see a release in the first quarter of the 2011 calendar year, as some still hoped. First announced in late 2008, EA has said The Old Republic is the largest project in the company's 28 year history, as measured by the total amount spent on development. Earlier this month, EA took over all publishing and distribution duties for the game, which it had previously been sharing with LucasArts.