The Old Republic attracts close to 1.5 million for beta testing

If six-hour lines to play the demo at PAX East didn't give you a clue, Star Wars: The Old Republic is shooting into "crazy-huge" levels of popularity these days. Even the beta for the game is hot property, as EA reported that almost 1.5 million players have signed up to be a part of the testing cycle.

EA CFO Eric Brown sees this as a terrific starting point to rule the galaxy as father and son: "It's a great indicator in the interest level in the franchise," he said.

Brown estimates that there are around 12 million potential MMO players in North America and Europe right now, a market that he hopes to widen with The Old Republic's launch. "For us it's about creating the right experience for expanding from tier 1 and the tier 2 users to getting people who have never played an MMO before, but are interested in Star Wars, to engage and give it a try," he said. "If we do that, our addressable market is well beyond 12 million people ... into more of a general gamer population, pretty much anyone that has a minimum spec personal computer."

We still have a while to go before SWTOR's launch, particularly with the recent news that there's no chance of the game launching before July 1st.