20th December in US / 22nd December in Europe – How is that a simultaneous release?

With all the buzz surrounding the big SWTOR news today – a release date– you can bet that there would also be some questions. The biggest question was actually asked before but left mostly unanswered.
Will Europe get it the same day or will there be delay between regions?

Georg Zoeller explained today,

Since I’ve seen some confusion about this::

The two day difference isn’t our idea. The problem is that the game industry works around retail dates and retailers in the US restock their shelves on Tuesdays while in the EU it’s Thursday.

So sorry my European friends, I totally feel for you and still remember those problems from back when I still lived in Germany.

So yes, Europe will have to wait almost 2 extra days for the release and this is still technically considered a simultaneous release.
If you still have not preordered a copy, you will want to get on that or run the risk of missing out at least on the initial launch. To help ensure a smoother launch experience, Bioware is limiting the initial numbers of copies to be sold so you may not want to wait until December 20th to get your copy.
The retail copy will include 30 days of subscription time, with further pricing as follows:
  • 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)