BioWare's MMO due in 2010/11
Come on, is it KOTOR or isn't it?
Another snippet here from John Riccitiello's very illuminating talk with the William Blair and Company investor conference earlier this week: the EA chief noted that BioWare's MMO is scheduled to be released in "fiscal 2010" - that is, between April 2010 and April 2011.
This news slipped through the net earlier in the week, but the eagle-eyed Total Video Games picked it up.
In fact, Riccitiello did not mention BioWare, noting only that EA was "funding the MMO in Austin", but given that EA owns BioWare, and BioWare is known to be developing an MMO in its Austin studio, it's quite clear what he was talking about.
The project - which BioWare head Ray Muzyka promises will innovate - has been subjected to repeated on-and-off rumours that it is a Star Wars MMO, possibly based on BioWare's own classic RPG, Knights of the Old Republic. The story was leant credence by recent leaks from LucasArts staff who'd been let go.
However, Riccitiello mentioned the BioWare MMO in the context of "new intellectual property", which clears things up not one bit. Star Wars and KOTOR are hardly new - but then again, they would be new to EA.
2010 may sound like the distant future, but it's actually not that far away. Someone please put us out of our misery on this one soon.