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Star Wars Galaxies Closure a Matter of License

Posted: 13 Jul 2011, 23:12
by Lonesamurai
Star Wars Galaxies Closure a Matter of License

Thousands of wookiees to be homeless by the year's end.

US, July 13, 2011


IGN reported a couple weeks ago that Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies is shutting down this December. Since then, via The Escapist, SOE's President has spoken openly about the reasoning behind the decision to close the long-standing MMO.

Other games whose subscriber populations have dwindled in recent years have turned to the free-to-play model, but for SOE the problem is not so much a matter of subscribers as a matter of licensing. According to Smedley, SOE's License with Lucasfilm is due to expire next year. Then there's also the matter of a certain competitor for the Star Wars MMO market. ""It was time to turn it off," Smedley said. "We have a contractual relationship that's ending in 2012, The Old Republic launching, a bunch of other business things with LucasArts."

Smedley acknowledged that a large portion of the SWG audience was likely to shift to BioWare's hotly anticipated MMO. "…You look at the odds of a pretty large portion of the audience moving to TOR, which looks like a terrific game. I think that's going to be really well-received by the population."

The shutdown has naturally been met with disappointment and anger by the Star Wars Galaxy community, with some players, according to VentureBeat, going so far as filing a class-action lawsuit.

Would you rather see Star Wars Galaxies die a dignified death in December or switch to the free-to-play model and struggle against BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic? Sound off on the forum below.