Electronic Arts Now Lone Publisher of Star Wars: The Old Republic

EA inks deal to take on full publishing, marketing, distribution responsibilities.

Electronic Arts was already betting big on BioWare's upcoming Stars Wars MMORPG, The Old Republic. Today the publisher announced it's going all in, signing a new agreement with LucasArts that will shift all global publishing, marketing, and distribution for the game to EA.

Speaking at the EA Games Showcase event in San Francisco, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka told Joystiq that Star Wars fans concerned something might be amiss with The Old Republic shouldn't give the announcement a second thought.

"There's not going to be any obvious change for gamers," Muzyka told Joystiq. "It makes things easier for us to have everything under one roof, and that will eventually benefit players."

EA stated the centralized operations will create cost-cutting efficiencies and clarified that LucasArts will still serve as a key collaborating partner on the overall design of the game.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is set for release sometime in 2011.

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