Star Wars: The Old Republic Going Free-to-Play

EA announced on Tuesday that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be going full-on free-to-play starting later this year.

Several months ago, EA and BioWare made the first 20 levels of Star Wars: The Old Republic entirely free, which suggested that they were testing the waters for a future implementation of the free-to-play model that is so popular with MMOs these days.

All of Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s leveling content will be entirely free, but there will of course be some restrictions for players who opt to avoid spending any cash. Free players will be limited in their access to Flashpoints, and will be locked out entirely from the end-game raids, known as Operations, as well as the high-end gear that drops from them.

In order to access the restricted content, you’ll have to purchase access to the content via the game’s cash shop, or commit to a subscription which allows access to all content, new and old. If you choose to go the subscription route, you’ll also be awarded a monthly “allowance” of Cartel Coins for use in the cash shop, where you can buy various cosmetic items.

“Players want flexibility and choice. The subscription-only model presented a major barrier for a lot of people who wanted to become part of The Old Republic universe,” said Matthew Bromberg, GM of BioWare Austin.

“Since launch, we’ve been listening to feedback from our fans and adding new content and refining The Old Republic at a breakneck pace,” added Jeff Hickman, Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s executive producer. We believe we are in a position to help improve the service even more, not only by continuing to add new content, but also by expanding the game to many more Star Wars fans, increasing the populations on worlds and the vibrancy of the community.”

For more information, you can head over to this link.

Will you be trying out (or coming back to) Star Wars: The Old Republic when it becomes free-to-play later this year?