Bioware Austin MMO slated for 2010 or 2011

From a TVG article

EA has seemingly admitted involvement in BioWare's mystery MMO project (now strongly believed to be a KOTOR 3 MMO), which suggests that both LucasArts and EA will pool their efforts in publishing the highly anticipated MMO project from the Austin, Texas based developer.

At a recent stock conference with investors, EA's CEO John Riccitello was referring to a list of 15 new intellectual properties in the publisher's pipeline when he let this slip:

"It's giving us strong new entries in online. For example, we're funding the MMO in Austin, which is helping us a lot." He went on to state that the MMO is slated for fiscal 2010/11 (i.e. between April 1st 2010 and March 31st 2011).

We've done a lot of head scratching and can't think of any other MMO projects that he might be referring to in Austin, or any other EA studios in that part of Texas other than BioWare.

It's now becoming one of the worst kept secrets in gaming that BioWare's MMO project is based on the Knights of the Old Republic universe. When over 100 hundred LucasArts staff were made redundant earlier this month, whistle blowers leaked a number of unannounced projects under the LucasArts umbrella, one of which was a KOTOR 3 MMO under development at BioWare.

LucasArts, EA, and BioWare all working on a KOTOR MMO together - who'da thunk it?

Former LucasArts employee : KOTOR 3 will be a MMO

From a Kotaku article :

One former employee has told us not only how he was immediately sacked after six years of service, but how wide-ranging the layoffs appear to be, and the impact they'll supposedly have on many of Lucasart's upcoming projects. Some of them as-yet-unannounced. Projects like KOTOR 3, a Wii Star Wars title and the non-Lego Indiana Jones game.

[...]

Some of the titles they report Lucasarts apparently have in this stacked pipeline, whether as publisher or developer, include:

- KOTOR 3 (They say it's an MMO: most likely a joint project between Lucasarts and BioWare)
- Battlefront 3 (which we've already heard about)
- "The Official Indiana Jones" game (probably this one)
- "another LEGO game based on the Indy universe"
- "a lightsaber game for the wii (sorry, no lightsaber peripherals)"

Related : LucasArts Leak Shows KOTOR 3 As MMO News

Rumor over the rumor : KOTOR MMO cancelled ?

From a Kotaku article :

We've continued to receive e-mails throughout the day from folks who it seems are now formerly in the employ of Lucasarts, telling us this and that about the circumstances behind their departure from the company. But few are as revealing as one we were sent earlier this evening. One former employee has told us not only how he was immediately sacked after six years of service, but how wide-ranging the layoffs appear to be, and the impact they'll supposedly have on many of Lucasart's upcoming projects. Some of them as-yet-unannounced. Projects like KOTOR 3, a Wii Star Wars title and the non-Lego Indiana Jones game.

The source tells us that the sackings are spread across the company, and involve (as we were told earlier) everyone from testers to head producers. They also re-iterate earlier reports that the number of staff affected is around 100, and that the cull actually began on Wednesday, and continued through into Thursday.

Most interesting, however, is the information they provide on how the layoffs leave the company severely short-staffed as they approach a packed development schedule, one which it appears may be increasingly outsourced. Some of the titles they report Lucasarts apparently have in this stacked pipeline, whether as publisher or developer, include:

- KOTOR 3 (They say it's an MMO: most likely a joint project between Lucasarts and BioWare)
- Battlefront 3 (which we've already heard about)
- "The Official Indiana Jones" game (probably this one)
- "another LEGO game based on the Indy universe"
- "a lightsaber game for the wii (sorry, no lightsaber peripherals)"

Two internally-developed games apparently far enough along to be unaffected by the sackings are The Force Unleashed (which they say has already "passed approval with SCEA and is ready to ship") and Fracture, which they say is described by team members as "an absolute piece of garbage".

As the testimony of a freshly-sacked employee, take that appraisal of Fracture with a grain of salt. And as the testimony of a freshly-sacked employee, don't expect Lucasarts or BioWare to go commenting on things like KOTOR3 or a Wii lightsaber game anytime soon. But it's certainly further food for thought.

Source