SOE calls time on Star Wars Galaxies

By Fred Dutton Published 24 June, 2011

Plug to be pulled on 15th December.

Long-running MMO Star Wars Galaxies goes dark on 15th December, publisher Sony Online Entertainment has announced.

A post on the game's official site explains that “SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time” to bring the game to a close.

Just in time for the arrival of Star Wars: The Old Republic perhaps?

“We are extremely grateful to all of the SWG fans," read the announcement. "We have had the rare opportunity to host one of the most dedicated and passionate online gaming communities and we truly appreciate the support we've received from each and every one of you over the course of the past eight years.”

Prior to the full 15th December shutdown, 12, 6 and 3-month subscription packs will be turned off today while the TCG store is also now closed for business.

As of 15th September, the MMO and its trading card game will no longer available for sale or subscription and no new or reactivated accounts will be accepted. Billing will then be turned off on 15th October.

However, there's still some fun to be had before it shuffles off to the great MMO graveyard in the sky - SOE is planning a “galaxy-ending in-game event”.

“We're going to end with a bang and we want the final chapter of the galaxy to be written in part by the dedicated and passionate SWG community. Details will be announced at a later date.”

SOE is also offering all those with active subscriptions a free two month trial of any of the following between 15th October and 31st December: Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, EverQuest, EverQuest II and DC Universe Online.

Full details of how to sign up are on the SWG website.

While it never really built up much momentum, it's not had a bad run. It originally launched back in 2003 scoring a healthy 7/10 in Eurogamer's Star Wars Galaxies review.

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 (36) Latest comment 11 months ago

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

  • neilka #1 11 months ago

    Not a long time to go for the galaxy far, far away.

  • FredD #2 11 months ago

    Bravo.

  • Silvervein #3 11 months ago

    Sony destroyed it years ago. They were in denial ever since, trying to pretend that everything is peachy.
    Edited by Silvervein at 26/06/11 @ 00:20

  • levitate #4 11 months ago

    I'm surprised they haven't already pulled the plug. This game has been dead for quite some time now.

  • Thedni #5 11 months ago

    Haven't played properly for a long old while but still genuinely gutted that SWG is being retired.

    Really wish this wasn't the first MMO I played because every other MMO feels shallow and limited in comparison.

  • Gaol #6 11 months ago

    The real SWG died in 2005.

    And yet Smedley & Co all kept their jobs. Look at SOE now. To think they were once the biggest MMO player on the block.

  • Ashcroft #7 11 months ago

    Beam everyone into space.

  • Dizzy #8 11 months ago

    I am sure the 5 people playing this will be sad.

  • coolbritannia #9 11 months ago

    You have failed me for the last time, Sony.

  • ircaddicts #10 11 months ago

    Saw this comeing as soon as tor was annonced. But its been dead since the cu/nge.

  • nobloodyname #11 11 months ago

    @coolbritannia

    I see what you did there. I guess some people will miss the reference and downrate you as usual, though. Tough crowd.
    Edited by nobloodyname at 25/06/11 @ 07:56

  • Ferral #12 11 months ago

    Haha, Darth Britannia!!!

    Obvious this was going to happen given that ToR is out later this year, you dont want 2 mmo's in the same universe running at the same time. Its just not good business sense really, they want as many people as possible heading over to the new one when it launches.

  • superdelphinus #13 11 months ago

    Sad, really

  • PearOfAnguish #14 11 months ago

    Didn't they introduce space battles with x-wings and that a little while back? Anyone try that? Was it any good?

  • Murton #15 11 months ago

    ^ yes, it was a tough grind to become a Ace pilot but totally worth it. The PvP space battles were awesome, but for most people the Jump to Lightspeed expansion just meant that they didn't have to wait for shuttles anymore, slightly lame.


    As for SWG, it's been in its death throes since SOE moved Raph Koster from design to marketing and the new designer starting modifying into EQ in Space to try and lure people back from WoW. The whole draw of SWG was the complexity and when they removed that people left in droves never to return.

  • ndbsolar #16 11 months ago

    From the greatest game, to one of the worst in the space of a single "update". SWG has been dead for years now.

    Long live SWGEMU :))
    Edited by ndbsolar at 25/06/11 @ 09:37

  • George-Roper #17 11 months ago

    SOE = useless sheep of the MMO genre.

    Just get fucking eaten by a wolf already, tragic shower of cunts.

  • shamblemonkee #18 11 months ago

    NGE... I am still bitter!

  • Lemming81 #19 11 months ago

    It's been a long time coming, frankly. A little sad as this was my first MMO, but it's better forgotten about at this point, frankly.

  • chris_ace #20 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #21 11 months ago

    SWG was a perfect balance of WoW and Eve. Even before CU you could see they were starting to fuck it up. Spending time developing those stupid high tech floating hologram emotes that looked more fitting in a Hello Kitty MMO was the start of the end for me. :(

  • Bogden #22 11 months ago

    SOE killed SWG after the 2nd Combat Upgrade. That's where I lost interest and cancelled my subscription.

  • login_name #23 11 months ago

    This was also my first MMO and even though I've not logged in for years (even with a payment exempt account), I'm still kinda sad to see it finally close its doors. To me, it "died" a long time ago when it became the confused mess caused by the NGE patch. For many, the NGE was SWG's Alzheimer's. It just never was the same after that. It amazes me how wrong that "update" was and how anyone in their right mind could have thought it was a good idea to piss off their entire user base. Insane. SOE lost many customers with a single patch. Not because of what happened to the game but due to its lack of concern for its paying customer in the pursuit of a mythical audience.

    I truely believe SWG was ahead of its time. It was never really given a chance by SOE/LA to fullfil its potential. Greed and arrogance (with a dash of stupidity) killed it.

  • Dave #24 11 months ago

    This game had so much in it...I was an architect, one of the many different classes and I never had to do much combat. I just sampled and harvested resources, made sure my factories were working, trying to craft the highest quality things, have my vendors stocked every day...it was awesome. Then the NGE came.... I tried to make it work, but then WoW was released and I left. I still think I had the most fun with SWG than with any other MMO though.

  • login_name #25 11 months ago

    The community was with without doubt the best I've ever been a part of. I'm so glad I got to experience the game and its community at its peak. I'll never forget it.

    It's depressing how awful most communities are these days. You can find good people, sure, but the community as a whole more often than not sucks. Selfish, arrogant and aggressive some up most of my post SWG experiences.

  • Laminator #26 11 months ago

    I wonder how this game would be now if it hadn't been trashed by Sony. I loved it before NGE - it was sorta like UO in Star Wars and UO has been going since 1997. I wish these kinds of sandbox MMOs were still being made today, but there is only poor indie efforts that only cater to the hardcore PvP crowd.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #27 11 months ago

    I have friends who still play this daily. It must be a really horrible feeling to find out a game you've been playing regularly for years is no longer available. Hopefully someone has been proactive with getting some kind of fan server software ready.

  • Wyrm #28 11 months ago

    Amazing the amount of passion people still feel for the original game. I still hate what they did to the game to this day, so many fond memories of a game they systematically destroyed with a continuous stream of stupid decisions. One of the biggest messes in gaming history.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #29 11 months ago

    @Shakey_Jake33

    [link url=http://www.swgemu.com
    ]http://www.swgemu.com
    [/link]

    Been going for years. :)

  • vijay_UK #30 11 months ago

    SWG was my first move into MMO's, I loved it for a while until the NGE effed it all up. I'm kinda sad it's going as it gave me some real fun times early, but at the same time it does not surprise me. I hope The Old Republic is the game we all want it to be. Gratz to Sony for messing it up. Btw, Jasper, if you are out there say hi sometime.

    ps. I agree with everything SirFuzzyDunlop said (25/06/11 @ 11:53).

    my fav bit maybe going into Mos Eisley cantina, and seeing ppl dancing and chatting away.. sigh
    Edited by vijay_UK at 25/06/11 @ 20:25

  • coolbritannia #31 11 months ago

    @nobloodyname, they are as clumsy as they are stupid.

  • wicro #32 11 months ago

    Long live my RRFspymonkeys and all that remember them

  • jimr9999us #33 11 months ago

    r.i.p. swg. Some of the best people I ever met were from this game...groundbreaking, broken...we move on.

  • swelt #34 11 months ago

    I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if hundreds of accounts suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

  • Zozzilla #35 11 months ago

    I've never played it, unfortunately. =/ It is always sad when the gates are closed on MMO's though.

    Also...isn't Free Realms free anyway, hence the "Free" in the title?

  • Number1Laing #36 11 months ago

    Neg me if you want, but... I thought SWG was awful even before NGE. It was so slow, the advancement system was inscrutable, the Jedi system was probably the worst example of MMO timesink grinding ever (and that is saying something), a lot of the professions were undeveloped, and the feeling of being caught in a universe wide conflict was pretty much nonexistent. I mean, smuggler and Bounty Hunter were so so lame and how could a smuggler or BH in Star Wars be lame?

    Fun was to be had, especially if you decided to do one of the non-combat occupations, but is Star Wars really about healing, playing music, and being the mayor of a town? The game totally missed the mark, and arguably needed some sort of massive overhaul. Though the fact that pre-NGE is fondly remembered nowadays is a real testament to how awful and worthless the NGE really was.