Blizzard hopes for Old Republic success

By Fred Dutton Published 18 March, 2011

BioWare's game could grow MMO market.

World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has wished competitor EA well with its forthcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO.

Speaking in an interview with MCV, co-founder Frank Pearce explained that the BioWare-developed title, if handled correctly, could help increase the size of the MMO market, with knock-on benefits for everyone.

"This is a game that has an opportunity to grow the MMO market if done right and therefore is very important to the industry as a whole, not just EA," he said.

CEO Mike Morhaime also chipped in with his support for the game, which is due to launch in the second half of the year.

"It's certainly a strong franchise and BioWare's a great developer," he said.

"We've talked about this internally and from our perspective we hope they make an enjoyable game because they're going to bring in a lot of new players to the MMO genre, and those players' idea of whether or not they like this type of game is going to be determined by that experience."

Classy. EA exec Frank Gibeau might want to take note. While discussing what The Old Republic had to offer MMO fans earlier this week, he opined that playing World of Warcraft "feels more like doing a shopping list."

Blizzard is reportedly working on its own brand new MMO effort. Currently operating under the working title of Titan, it's rumoured to be due for launch in 2013.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • makememoo #1 1 year ago

    specifically they would like the past-failing mmo scifi market to be primed nicely for when they start teasing titan? One might think.

  • Cornwolf #2 1 year ago

    Agreed but can't wait for SWTOR it's been coming out forever lol.

  • ChthonicEcho #3 1 year ago

    I honestly think it will be an enjoyable enough sci-fi alternative to the flood of fantasy MMOs. Star Wars is one of those franchises that makes sense to be an MMO, just because of the vast scope.

    Not my thing, though. I'm waiting for Guild Wars 2, myself.

  • Scopeh #4 1 year ago

    Blizzard be trolling

  • RockTwist #5 1 year ago


    If Bioware bring in new people to the MMORPG genre, that’s good for Blizzard in the long run. It expands the market. The bigger the genre the more money they make, competition is good. Regardless of what you or I, think of Old Republic, it *does* appeal to people WoW does not.

    Sci-Fi Fans, Star Wars Fans, Bioware Fans – there’s a lot of potential new customers to the genre Blizzard will hope to win over with ‘Titan’.
    Edited by RockTwist at 18/03/11 @ 17:30

  • Madafunkola #6 1 year ago

    Fuck Activision... Oh, hang on...????

  • Xboxfanuk #7 1 year ago

    wait so EA is trash talking and Activison/Blizzard comes out with the classy comment? Maybe 'ol Bobby should comment next. Then Tim Schaffer should have a go...lol

  • Vyggo #8 1 year ago

    I am really curious about the long term appeal of Old Republic. Admittedly I haven't really do much research but I haven't seen much "massive multiplayer" in that game yet.

  • hiddenranbir #9 1 year ago

    Blizzard are so much better at PR talk than that EA guy.

  • craziii #10 1 year ago

    what if it isn't pr talk, maybe they really mean it? it is business sense.

  • Kanjin #11 1 year ago

    Must be interesting playing other MMOs after developing your own.

  • FortysixterUK #12 1 year ago

    Yep, that's Blizzard watching the sci fi MMO space with keen interest to see where EA and Bioware drop the ball and make sure their launch of Titan makes all the right moves at launch in 2013....Rift did much the same thing on its launch this month, pretty much the smoothest , most competent MMO launch I have ever experienced.

  • IronCladChicken #13 1 year ago

    'Blizzard be trolling'

    eh?

  • Roxette #14 1 year ago

    Maybe because......if SWOTR fails also Blizzards new Titans fails

  • craziii #15 1 year ago

    use the ignore feature, all of the spam posts by that user will be gone from everything you view once they are on your ignore list.

  • AOFanboi #16 1 year ago

    @craziii, yes but the spam accounts generally are apparently not used after the initial spam flood, so you would be filling up the ignore list pointlessly.

    Speaking of SW:TOR, SW:G did hopefully show them how NOT to make a Star Wars MMO. For me the deciding point will be the machine requirements, I am done having to upgrade just to play some game. That is one of WoW's strengths, the low requirements to run (plus the native Mac client of course, which means I don't have to boot into Windows to play).
    Edited by AOFanboi at 20/03/11 @ 12:13