Star Wars: The Old Republic reportedly moving from BioWare to third-party developer

EA has confirmed reports it’s in talks to move the development of BioWare’s long-running free-to-play MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic to a third-party so the studio can focus on its upcoming new Mass Effect and Dragon Age instalments.

News of EA’s plans were first reported by IGN, who claimed the publisher was currently considering shifting The Old Republic’s development to Broadsword Online Games, a company run by former BioWare vice president and Mythic Entertainment co-founder Rob Denton, who previously worked on the Star Wars title in its early days.

Broadsword is no stranger to MMOs, of course – its other projects include ongoing work on Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot – and IGN reported EA had already signed a letter of intent with the studio, which would see The Old Republic deal finalised “as soon as this month”.