Star Wars: The Old Republic announced

It's been one of the industry's worst kept secrets that Bioware have been working on a MMORPG set in the Old Republic universe for a couple of years now and finally it has been officially announced. The game will have a lot of emphasis on story-telling, the hallmark of Bioware games in the past.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is set approximately 300 years after the events in the first Knights of the Old Republic game or about 3500 years before the original movie trilogy. The game will allow you to play as both a Jedi and a Sith and in a similar fashion to the RPG's you will be able to make decisions that determine your path.

Here are a bunch of quotes from the press release:

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars game in LucasArts history and a preeminent example of our company's interactive storytelling heritage," said Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts. "For a long time, we've wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and we felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in the experience together. We knew that the developer capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare."

"Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars - combat, exploration and character progression," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., "In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we're fusing BioWare's heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation - story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a triple-A massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe."

Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder and Vice President Development Operations, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts Inc., "Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore. BioWare has been able to add to the Star Wars history in developing the game's story and has created an overarching narrative that players can enjoy, regardless of their play style. Our goal is to offer players an emotionally rewarding experience that combines the traditional elements of MMO gameplay with innovations in story and character development."

Two of the worlds confirmed so far is Tython were the Jedi Academy has moved from Coruscant and the Sith world of Korriban. It is of course also nice to see the return of some familiar looking droids.

No release date has been announced, but it has been confirmed as a PC exclusive, and it is safe to assume it still has at least one year left in development if not more (very likely).

Some artwork to finish things off...