Over a year ago, I was drinking an ice-cold lemonade in EA’s Gamescom business suite. Across from me sat Jeff Hickman, VP for Live Services and head of Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare had just announced the switch to a hybrid free-to-play approach, and was planning an aggressive update schedule.
During the interview, we also discussed the state of SWTOR’s space game. I mentioned that I was a fan of the old X-Wing and Tie-Fighter series, and was hoping to see something similar in the MMO. Hickman wouldn’t be drawn on any plans, but told me that he had a dedicated space team working on “interesting things.”
As we wrapped up, I shared a promise with Hickman: I’d subscribe just for the chance to dogfight in space once again. Today, some 14 months later, BioWare finally revealed the Space game.
I’m a man of my word, and I’m going to stick to what I said. Later this month, I’ll be resubscribing as promised.
For the Empire!
(Note: I previously put the meeting at Gamescom 2011, not 2012. I’m an idiot.)
Confused about the timeline here – you were talking to Jeff Hickman about hybrid f2p, 26 months ago (i.e. August 2011, 4 months before the game launched) ?
I think your calendar might be broken 🙂
Yeah, I’m facepalming here. For some reason I got my 2011 and 2012 Gamescom events mixed up. I’ll correct it now 😉
That makes a lot more sense. The pew pew does look exciting, although I’ve lost any kind of immersive feeling since F2P hit. There are just constant reminders that real world money makes things better 🙁 (Still haven’t unsubscribed though, for some reason)