KotOR 3 - To be MMO!
Portfolio.com is reporting that the next KotOR is to be an MMO. N.Evan Van Zelfden in Los Angeles warns, watch out World of Warcraft. In an interview at E3 this week, the CEO of Electronic Arts John Riccitiello said that 'EA is working on the next version of Star Wars game Knights of the Old Republic, and it will most certainly have a massively multiplayer online component to it'.
"We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development," said Riccitiello. The first title, based on the Warhammer property, will launch soon. "And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about -- in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it."
Mr. Riccitiello also confirms the "oft rumored Knights of the Old Republic Online" by saying "Yes".
John continues to tell how important it is for any gaming company to enter the MMO scene and that it's essential for most of them. Furthermore he was interested in owning World of Warcraft and that it had been discussed – however it wasn't feasible; "Because [Vivendi] couldn't afford control of EA, and I wasn't giving it up."
"EA is firmly on that path now, with a KOTOR MMO, which would sidestep the consoles owned by Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Increasingly, people are going to be talking about direct-to-customer in our business," said Riccitiello. "I think we'll be talking about it louder than most."
MMOs also help companies to expand within Asia and other regions, this is something Mr. Riccitiello is aiming for.
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tblakleyAs a star wars fan I am both excited and disappointed by this announcement.
1. KOTOR 1 was the best game in star wars IMO. What made it great is the story and immersion to the characters. MMO's don't generally allow that kind of epic gameplay or story emmersion.-disappointment
2. The idea of playing Star wars online with all my friends does excite me as unlike in Galaxies Jedi should be present. It makes sense in this timeline o see Jedi and Sith alike running the galaxy. -excitement
Ultamately time will tell tell. Bio which made the 1st KOTOR made a great game. But it is in developement now. Translation we are likely years from a release. MMO's take years to build. IE WoW took nearly 5 years. Warhammer was started in 2001 and set to release in sept of 08. We may not see KOTOR until 2011 or 2012 for all we know. Likelihood is WoW will be long since dead by that point. Something new will be ruling the market in all likelihood. Either way it will be worth watching.