SWTOR to miss Q2 release

Publisher EA has said close to 1.5m people have signed up to become potential beta testers for BioWare’s upcoming MMO title Star Wars: The Old Republic.

"It’s a great indicator in the interest level in the franchise," CFO Eric Brown said at the Lazard Capital Markets Technology & Media Day presentation attended by Gamasutra.

And regarding the game’s release date, Brown refused to be specific though did say that it was "reasonable to infer" that the full game will not launch in EA’s next financial quarter (it’s Q1 but calendar Q2), which ends June 31st.

In January MCV revealed that the game is in fact being lined up for a September release – much to the irritation of many of our BioWare-loving readers.

As well as confirming that EA expects the game to be funded by the traditional monthly subscription model, he also emphasised what he believes in the huge potential of the title.

"We’re not that concerned about generating initial demand," Brown added. "For us it’s about creating the right experience for expanding from tier one and the tier two users to getting people who have never played an MMO before, but are interested in Star Wars, to engage and give it a try.

"Our addressable market is well beyond 12m people … into more of a general gamer population, pretty much anyone that has a minimum spec personal computer."