Release Date Announced

I was there when Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk officially announced the release date for The Old Republic at Eurogamer Expo today.

The Old Republic will launch December 20 in North America and December 22 in Europe.

They also announced the pricing plan for the game. You can find all the details in the official news:

BioWare and LucasArts are pleased to announce that Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ will launch on December 20, 2011 in North America and on December 22, 2011 in the European Launch Territories! The announcement was first made by BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk during their keynote address at the 2011 Eurogamer Expo in London, England. Speaking to a packed room of press and fans alike, Dr. Muzyka acknowledged the weight of the moment and the patience of the fans.

“This is an incredible moment for everyone at BioWare and our partners at LucasArts who have dedicated their lives to build this extraordinary game. We appreciate the patience from the millions of fans who have been waiting for the game’s release.”

Each copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic will come with 30 days of subscription time, after which you have the option to continue playing with one of the following monthly subscription fees:

• 1 Month Subscription: $14.99 (£8.99/€12.99)
• 3 Month Subscription: $13.99 per month (one-time charge of $41.97/£25.17/€35.97)
• 6 Month Subscription: $12.99 per month (one-time charge of $77.94/£46.14/€65.94)

Those who have pre-ordered the game and entered their pre-order code on StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com are eligible for Early Game Access. If you haven’t yet reserved your copy of the game, be sure to visit our Pre-Order page and secure your place in the Old Republic now!

We want to thank you for your continued passion, dedication and support. Though one part of this incredible journey is coming to an end, we are confident that you all share our excitement for this new beginning. Be sure to check back to StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com as well as our Twitter and Facebook pages for all the latest news and updates on Star Wars: The Old Republic.

There's also the press release (with pretty much the same information far as I can tell).

Unfortunately the release date comes pretty much right when my Christmas vacation starts, so I'll probably miss out on the head-start as well as the first few weeks. Ah well, start the new year with SWTOR; sounds good to me.

I also got to play a little Huttball at the Expo (we won 0-2, and I scores one of the goals). I had no idea what I was doing (and I don't think anyone else did either, so that's alright), but it was quite fun. I might write up a bit more detail later on my experience, though there isn't really that much more to tell (I honestly don't remember the details of the match itself... there was a lot of shooting and lightsaber swinging). I'll also put up the Friday update later, probably on Monday.

Wasn't expecting to hear a release date for TOR when I went to Eurogamer Expo. Quite a surprise.

PS. It seems that my website (Eilistraee.com) is having issues (I've got my host looking at them, seems like all the permissions are turned off). And since I was hosting this blog's background on my site the background won't work at the moment (and just be black instead of showing stars). I hope that they fix it soon (but unfortunately probably not during the weekend).