EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau explained to CVG that while they have a date for the SWTOR launch, the deciding factor will rest in the hands of the beta testers. The date is tentatively set for “holiday 2011” but will be dependent upon fan reactions to the beta of the game.
“We’re driving towards a date, but the very issue you raised is why we’re not announcing a date yet because you want to make sure that these services can last a decade,” the exec said.
He adds, “It is definitely tied to the beta test feedback that’s ongoing and so far, so good. We feel good about the date that we’re heading towards but you’re right, you could have a Crazy Ivan show up in the September/October beta test and be like, ‘wow, I’ve got to fix that’.””
Next comes a WoW reference you won’t see in most articles on the game as Gibeau explains that BioWare wants to avoid the problem’s that Blizzard had with the launch of the ever-popular MMORPG, “World of Warcraft”.
When they say problems, they are referring to technical glitches that hampered WoW’s launch. I was in the beta so I remember this all too well and I’m all for not seeing the same problems with SWTOR.
The story concludes: “We’re totally focused on quality, so whatever the beta test tells us is what will be the determining variable on when we will hit.””
That’s what we want to hear!
