Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO launches

Star Wars: The Old Republic has launched across the globe – with the MMO hoping to overhaul industry behemoth World of Warcraft with a stellar brand.

The arrival of SW:ToR is a major shot in the arm for PC gaming, bringing the Star Wars brand to the MMO world for the second time following the innovative but ultimately doomed Star Wars Galaxies.

"This is the moment you've been waiting for, Star Wars: The Old Republic is officiallyreleased.
Get your copy today* and join the hundreds of thousands of other players alreadyonline.

This time around it is Bioware that has developed the world – building on the popular single player Knights of the Old Republic franchise – and try to make this a key MMO.

Star Wars fans

"Everyone is coming to this game because they're fans of Star Wars - no-one is a fan of this game because no-one's played this game yet," the game's senior writer Alex Freed told CVG.

"So when people are coming in with these expectations and very strong emotional associations with Star Wars, you don't want to let them down.

"You want to do a story that they're really going to love, that they're going to get excited by, that fits the Star Wars that they want to see while also feeling new and fresh enough.

"Having this many people coming to the game because they love Star Wars... it's a big responsibility. It is something that you worry about now and then."

For the tech world this represents a game that, should it become a success, could be a major boost for the PC, as it battles with the consoles for a share of the gaming market.