A rumor circulated by game site VG247 that BioWare’s upcoming PC-based Star Wars online role-playing game is on the way for the Xbox 360 has been halfheartedly quashed. Calling its not-an-April-Fool’s-story a “super rumor,” VG247
reported yesterday that The Old Republic was in development for the Xbox 360 after spying a reference to an Xbox 360 version of Star Wars: The Old Republic on a UK game retailer’s internal release list. The list apparently had it down as “TBC [To Be Confirmed] 2011.”
BioWare’s response? Not so fast.
According to the Canada-based developer of recent multiplatform hits Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, it has “no idea” why The Old Republic was on the list, and that it “should not be on there.”
BioWare message board community manager Sean Dahlberg handled damage control, posting the following to BioWare’s official The Old Republic forums.
“I know many of you have heard this before but I’ll go ahead and reiterate it for those of you who may be new,” wrote Dahlberg.
“Star Wars: The Old Republic is currently being developed for the personal computer (PC) using the Microsoft Windows operating system. While we recognize that there are other operating systems and platforms available for games today, our development is specific to the personal computer using the Windows operating system at this time.”
Note the shrewd ambiguity in that carefully spun response. The Old Republic is “currently” being developed for the PC, but not “only.” BioWare’s development is specific to the PC “at this time,” but not “exclusively.”
Translation: Maybe we will, maybe we won’t, but don’t bug us–we’re busy getting the PC version out the door.
That said, the part about recognizing “there are other operating systems and platforms available for games today” seems a little silly.
Hey BioWare, you don’t need to convince us you know the difference between a PC and a Mac, or for that matter, a Mac and an Xbox 360.
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