Star Wars: The Old Republic To Shift Devs So BioWare Can Focus On Dragon Age

thegamer.com:

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been going for a number of years now, as developer BioWare has been steadily supporting the MMO since it launched way back in 2008. However, it seems like the days of BioWare working on the title may be over, as it's being reported that publisher EA is nearing an agreement to shift development to a third-party studio so BioWare can focus properly on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect games.

This is according to a report from IGN, which states that EA is planning to have Ultima Online developer Broadsword Online take over development. Broadsword Online is currently being run by former BioWare vice president Rob Denton, with his experience working on the titlein its early days likely one of the reasons for the switch.

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IGN also states that Star Wars: The Old Republic has a team of between 70 - 80 developers currently working on the title, and that roughly half of these people will join Broadsword Online to continue development. The other half are apparently being offered other roles within BioWare and EA, although layoffs haven't been taken off the table. It's worth noting that this agreement hasn't been made just yet, but we'll likely hear some more official information about the switch in the coming weeks.

For now, EA has issued a slightly vague statement regarding the situation, claiming that it only wants "to do what is best for the game and its players" and that "includes conversations with Broadsword." It hasn't confirmed that Broadsword Online will take over development just yet, but the statement doesn't deny the claims either.

As for BioWare, it's pretty clear from these events that