ea bioware
Latest
Star Wars: The Old Republic to launch in the Asia Pacific region on March 1st
On launch day, fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic were able to start logging into the game simultaneously across the world... assuming "the world" meant North America and Europe. The Pacific regions were unfortunately deferred to a later launch date, something that provoked some ire from fans in that area. However, the wait is now over for an official launch day. A launch of March 1st has been announced for Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Naturally, there are fans in those regions who would prefer to play on regional servers but have already started play on existing servers via imported copies of the game. BioWare is promising that players in these regions will be able to transfer characters for free for a limited time following the launch date, allowing everyone to move to regional servers if desired. The game is also available for pre-order now, so if you're in the affected region and want a copy, best take a look at stores near you for order options.
Star Wars: The Old Republic lets you make a holocall to the first guild summit
Maybe you want to head down to the first guild summit for Star Wars: The Old Republic but just can't quite fit a trip to Austin into your budget at the moment. The bad news is that no matter how awesome your guild is, BioWare is not going to provide you a private jet. The good news is that you can still get some of the impact of the event, as portions of the event will apparently be available via livestream for those who can't attend in person. Watching the event rather than attending might sound like a weak compromise, but according to the official announcement, players watching via livestream will be able to participate in some of the event discussions. It also looks like the streams will be covering the most important elements and highlight the developer presentations and feedback discussions. So you might not be able to take part physically in the events, but you can still get some of the feel.
BioWare kicks off Star Wars: The Old Republic Q&A Fridays
When BioWare first announced the addition of a regular community Q&A feature for Star Wars: The Old Republic, the team stated that each session would answer about 10 questions. However, the first installment has gone up with a grand total of 15 and answers more questions about the Legacy system. Patch 1.2 will bring in the first set of rewards, allowing players to combine races and classes in new ways, but the company promises there will be more enhancements and expansions for future patches. In fact, the next major patch is will bring several requested features. A new same-faction Warzone, the Hue to Chest feature, Medium and Heavy social armor, and guild banks are all on the table for the update. For players more concerned with the immediate state of the game, there are also answers about the best ways to submit feedback and how the team prioritizes which bugs to fix. It's certainly a good place to kick off the series, and community members should find something to be pleased with in the answers.
See some stupid alien get curbstomped in the latest Mass Effect 3 trailer
We don't know about you, but whoever that dude was in the previous Mass Effect 3 trailers sure looked out of place. We're feeling much better about this latest one, but that's at least in part due to an alien getting his face straight stepped on near the end. See for yourself!
Allow these Mass Effect iOS screens to infiltrate your brain meat
Yesterday we got a chance to get our eyes on the upcoming Mass Effect iOS game, Infiltrator, during an EA press event. But while there's not much to say about the game (it's a third-person shooter set in the Mass Effect universe), it sure was pretty! Take a look for yourself in the gallery just below.
BioWare bringing weekly blogs and video guides for Star Wars: The Old Republic
Bringing someone new into the world of an MMORPG can be a difficult task. BioWare is trying to make it easy for MMO newcomers to get into Star Wars: The Old Republic, and to that end the team has launched the first of a series of video guides to playing the game. The first video, narrated by Social Media Coordinator Eric Musco, covers starting fresh in the game, creating a character, and taking part in your first conversations. Of course, you might be an old hand at playing the game by now. (If not, the video is embedded just past the cut.) For those players not in need of a helping hand, BioWare has also announced the launch of two weekly features -- a blog post rounding up all developer posts to the forums over the prior week, and a Q&A session that will pull 10 questions from a community thread to be answered each week. So even if you don't need help getting into the game, you can have a little extra guidance about what's going on behind the scenes.
Conan O'Brien shows off SWTOR same-sex footage
Leave it to Conan O'Brien to offer up the funniest take on Star Wars: The Old Republic's same-sex relationship controversy (which, incidentally, isn't that much of a controversy until it's actually in the game!). The late-night talk show host treated viewers to some "exclusive footage" -- apparently authorized by George Lucas himself (wink, nudge) -- that pairs up Star Wars icons like Darth Vader and Boba Fett and Yoda and Galen Marek (also known as Starkiller). Oh, and wait until the Family Research Council gets a load of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Check it out after the break.
Subscriber numbers lead to a new hope for Electronic Arts stock
It's official: As of yesterday, Star Wars: The Old Republic has 1.7 million active subscribers and has sold 2 million copies. That's good news for fans of the game, but it's also good news for both BioWare and Electronic Arts. Apparently, it's seen as very good news for Electronic Arts, as the company's stock has gone up by 6.1% in the announcement's wake. The stock closed on Wednesday at $18.44 a share and closed today at $19.56, an appreciable gain for the company and a sign of good health. This is sharp contrast to some of the early analyst responses before subscriber numbers were released, as well as some suspicions that the game was falling after a few first-patch fumbles. Whether the game will rise further or stabilize where it is remains to be seen, but it's certainly making a strong showing out of the gate, and the financial sector is taking note. [Thanks to Robert for the tip!]
Star Wars: The Old Republic warps into more than 2 million households, 1.7 million active daily
It looks like Star Wars: The Old Republic is off to a decent start, with EA today touting sales topping 2 million copies since launch, 1.7 million of which are reported as "active daily users." According to CEO John Riccitiello, those sales helped to bolster the company's third quarter financials for fiscal 2012 above those of the previous year, alongside major launches like Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 helping to pick up the slack."Star Wars: The Old Republic is developing a committed community of players," Riccitiello boasted in a press release today, ahead of EA's financial earnings call where we'll likely learn more. Unfortunately, we can't snicker in the faces of any analysts on this one because they kinda sat on both sides of the fence ahead of the game's launch this past winter. So, uh, congrats folks, you were sorta right ... we guess.Update: EA's chief finances man Eric Brown pointed out during the call that "over 40 percent" of Star Wars: The Old Republic's sales were through Origin, which services like NPD aren't able to track.
BioWare goes bounty hunting for great guild leaders
Aboard the Empire's great warship BioWare Austin, the Star Wars: The Old Republic community team has put a bounty on passionate leaders for the first SWTOR Guild Summit on March 4th through 6th. The summit is designed to facilitate direct communication between guild leaders and the developers as well as provide a lucky few with an advance sneak peek at some upcoming features. The best thing about the summit is that any qualifying guild leader interested in helping to shape the game's future can apply to be a part of the summit. The official website has an application form up, although those who want to be considered for the summit need to fill it out by February 10th. BioWare stated that it has already invited some guilds and that the remainder of the summit will be invite-only due to the limited size of the event. It's important to note that while the event itself is free, attending leaders have to assume the responsibility for transportation, room, and board.
BioWare: All our devs play SWTOR
Ever wonder if MMO devs play the MMO they're developing? Apparently the answer is yes in the case of Star Wars: The Old Republic. A new dev blog by BioWare executive producer Rich Vogel minces few words on that particular subject. "Every single one of us on the development team plays the game, and we see the same issues you do and where we need to expand," Vogel writes. The rest of the wall o' text isn't quite as illuminating. Vogel starts by defining bugs and exploits, and he offers a few generalities in regards to BioWare's ability to quickly respond to both types of issues. It's worth a read if you're heavily invested in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and you'll find it on the game's official site.
Get face to face with Mass Effect 3's star-studded cast
Ever wondered what it's like to watch She's All That star Freddie Prinze Jr. shadowbox in a voice acting studio? BioWare's latest Mass Effect 3 voice actor video diary is here to answer your bizarre requests, Freddie Prinze Jr. fans.
Get your Krogan Charge on in latest Mass Effect 3 multiplayer vid
Hankering for a taste of what Mass Effect 3's multiplayer aspect will bring to the third and final entry in Shepard's space saga? The latest trailer out of BioWare is here to blow out your palate (and a whole bunch of other stuff too).
SWTOR pushes out ability delay improvements with promises of more to come
BioWare wants to let you know that Star Wars: The Old Republic is sorry it hasn't been as responsive to your needs lately, and that after weeks of counseling (and back-room coding), its fledgling MMO is prepared to make up with you. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller announced today that the infamous ability delay should be clearing up nicely, thanks to an overnight 1.1.0b patch. He says BioWare didn't want to wait until the next big patch to roll it out, opting to instead deliver it as quickly to players as possible. However, Zoeller also notes that the team "is not done improving combat responsiveness" and has several other tweaks and fixes in the work for patch 1.1.1. Other areas of improvement that BioWare is investigating include UI clarity, making cast bars more accurate, and rectifying timing differences for specific abilities and animations.
The Force is with SWTOR: EA stock bounces back, budget revealed
It seems like everyone is obsessed with the exact amount of money EA spent creating its most expensive title ever, but the Los Angeles Times may have a final number to end the discussion: Apparently, Star Wars: The Old Republic cost $200 million. Other interesting details from the Times' investigation into what it calls a "galactic gamble" include the fact that it was made by 800 people on four continents with an additional 1,000 voice actors (doing three languages) handling 4,000 characters. The project was such a massive undertaking that BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk likened it to "teaching elephants to do ballet." One of the interesting details of this behind-the-scenes expose is that BioWare said that certain movies and TV miniseries influenced class storylines, such as Big Trouble in Little China for the Smuggler and Band of Brothers for the Trooper. There's also some good news following yesterday's word of EA's stock hit. MarketWatch reports that several brokers have defended the title, resulting in a 2% bounce back in EA's stock. As part of that, a Pacific Crest analyst raised his predictions of quarter sales for SWTOR from 1.5 to 2.2 million, with 800,000 subscribers. Another analyst claims that over two million units of SWTOR have been sold since launch with an expectation that 75% to 90% of players will stay on as paid subscribers following the first free month.
Taun-taunts: Damion Schubert teases future SWTOR vanity pets
Recently, Star Wars: The Old Republic blog Inquisitor's Roadhouse got in touch with BioWare Lead System Designer Damion Schubert to talk about the game's "other" companions: vanity pets. While they may not be the fifth pillar of gameplay, vanity pets in SWTOR are desired by many collectors -- and Schubert has word that more are on the way. While Schubert admits that vanity pets, such as the Hutt Observer and Mouse Droid, weren't at the top of BioWare's priority list in beta, he said the team knew they wanted them as part of the launched game. There are only a handful of pets in the game at this time, but more are to come in SWTOR's next big update. "I don't want to give out too big a hint, but they smell kinda bad on the outside," Schubert teased. He confirmed that currently pets are not limited by faction, although there are some that are restricted to dark and light side players. Schubert said that BioWare will be using vanity pets as rewards for many aspects of gameplay, including the social and legacy systems. Getting them in the future may be more complicated in a good way, however: "One of the things we want to do a lot more of is adding items that take a bit of communal exploration to discover – we're well aware of how popular datacrons and the magenta lightsaber crystal are – and minipets is one place where we've identified adding fun things like that could really pay off."
A WoW player's guide to The Old Republic
Whether you're a longtime World of Warcraft player or someone who's just recently tried the game and fallen in love with it, you're probably aware that there are other MMORPGs out there. Recently, the game that's been getting the most press is Star Wars: The Old Republic. And if you've sat down and tried it out as a veteran on World of Warcraft, you probably had some idea of what was going on when you started playing, with the only initial speedbump being the lack of an auto-attack feature. But there's more to the game than combat and more things that might trip you up in the long run. So Eliot Lefebvre and Matt Daniel are here to help you out with a massive guide to coming into TOR when you're accustomed to the environment of WoW. Take a skip past the break to find out almost everything you'll need to know when converting from the world of Azeroth to the galaxy of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Star Wars: The Old Republic posts new video for future content updates [Updated]
It's safe to say the past two days haven't been the best for the nascent Star Wars: The Old Republic, with its bugs, breaks, and bearish concerns. That doesn't mean that BioWare is packing it in and heading for the hills, however; the studio has just put out a new video detailing the content slated for the game in the coming months. Director James Ohlen lays out several new additions planned for the near future, several of which are features players had been asking for. PvP will see the addition of a new Warzone as well as an overall ranking system for avid PvP players to track personal progress. UI customization is also coming, starting with a fully resizable and reconfigurable layout. And the Legacy system is being rolled out in full, complete with the promise of new races being available as Legacy rewards for the factions. So if you're a Star Wars: The Old Republic fan and have been feeling a bit down with recent news, this might help perk you back up. [Update: A reader named Jon has tipped us off to an article on Gamesradar in which BioWare's Daniel Erickson confirms that the character in today's video is "definitely a Miraluka Sith," which suggests that the Miraluka may be ported cross-faction as part of the Legacy system rewards.]
Mass Effect 3 PC system requirements blasted open by BioWare
With the announcement that the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 demo will be hitting on February 14, BioWare has also revealed the PC system specs for the final chapter of Shepard's story. The system requirements (found below the jump) are surprisingly modest, and very similar to those of Mass Effect 2. You might notice that the list shows a low hard drive space requirement (a measly 2.5 GB), but the line probably refers to how much space the demo will need. So, it looks like PC gamers probably won't have to upgrade to defend the galaxy from destruction... but it certainly couldn't hurt. After all, the Reapers won't be holding back, so why should you?
SWTOR's new patch makes a mess, BioWare looking into it [Updated]
Welp, Star Wars: The Old Republic's 1.1 patch has arrived, and it's brought a bit of baggage with it. Imperial PvPers have been taking advantage of faction imbalances to farm hapless Republic players on the level 50 world of Ilum, and BioWare has responded to the resulting outcry with a discussion thread and a plea for sanity. "We're currently investigating potential issues related to the Ilum open world PvP area post-1.1. We understand that this is a topic of much discussion and we ask that you please direct all discussions to this thread," writes Joveth Gonzalez on the official SWTOR forums. The devs adjusted both daily and weekly missions to require the killing of factional enemies, and they also increased the PvP currency rewards for doing so. As of right now, it's anyone's guess what the fix will entail, and we'll keep our eyes on it as the situation develops. [Update: BioWare has issued a formal statement, which we've posted in its entirety after the break.]
