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Blizzard hopes for Old Republic success

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.