Rumors

According to a rumor circulating at German games site GamersGlobal, one of the founders of BioWare, Greg Zeschuk, may be leaving the studio he helped create.

Word of his possible departure has been rumored since the May layoffs, but an EA representative reportedly confirmed to GamersGlobal that Zeschuk "outlined his plan to return to his family in Edmonton for a much deserved vacation." The site also suggested that Zeschuk has been absent from the studio for several weeks, and there were fears within the Austin studio that both Zeschuk and co-founder Ray Muzyka were planning to leave.

The rep went on to clarify: "Greg also announced the new GM of BioWare Austin and Old Republic, Matt Bromberg. Greg is still with EA. He's now back in Canada, taking time off and thinking about new projects. No change with Ray Muzyka."

As this is still a rumor at this point, we must note that official confirmation from EA hasn't been made on this report. We will update with any news as it's made available.

[Update: Gamasutra reports that Zeschuk is not leaving BioWare completely; he did leave his General Manager role back in May.]

Twitter was abuzz this morning when a Star Wars: The Old Republic lead writer posted a cryptic message. "SIS Intel Report: Rumors indicate Czerka research vessel 'Theoretika' has been located by deep-space salvage team. Investigating," Hall Hood announced on his account.

Speculation abounded from many of his followers and fans of the game; the biggest theory revolved around a possible live event. Unfortunately for SWTOR players who scoured planet after planet searching for new content, Hood later tweeted, "Just to clarify: I was only giving a little preview of future content. I would never announce an in-game event on Twitter." We are disappoint.

However, Hood did give us a bit of joy when the tweeters proposed that it might be a new flashpoint. Hood answered that suggestion with, "Not exactly. You'll see very soon, I hope." Does that mean SWTOR will announce 1.4 content soon? We have our fingers crossed.

Stay tuned for more SWTOR news, and be sure to catch our weekly Hyperspace Beacon column later today.

I'm a positive person, generally. I'm loyal to my favorite franchises even when George Lucas can't make up his mind about who actually shot first. But I don't like it when my loyalty to a product is taken advantage of when I'm told I will get one thing but am ultimately sold another. That's why I say to EA and BioWare, "Make Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play already."

When EA was voted the worst company in America by the Consumerist, it was not because the products suck. If a customer has a constant feeling that she is not going to get what she pays for from a specific publisher, then it will start to wear on her. Now whenever someone from EA speaks, we have to ask ourselves whether there is any double meaning to what was said.

I believe SWTOR will be free-to-play by the time the first expansion comes out, and not directly because of subscription numbers or rumors. My evidence comes from those who speak for SWTOR and the actions of BioWare's management. I can also guess as to how the studio is going to spin it.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic's Rich Vogel is no longer with BioWare, according to a report at Gamasutra. Vogel served as SWTOR's executive producer and is an MMO industry veteran of 20 years on various titles, including Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, and Meridian 59.

The article also mentions emerging reports that BioWare's Austin campus is laying off workers as of this morning, though Vogel's departure apparently precedes these new developments. It's unclear whether the cuts are a continuation of the restructuring begun last May or a new round of layoffs.

Vogel signed on with BioWare in 2005 and most recently made headlines for a GDC 2012 presentation that highlighted SWTOR's project management apparatus.

[Update: EA BioWare has issued a statement confirming restructuring within its Austin studio, attributing it to ongoing staff reductions started this past May. The full statement is below the break.]

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Rumors are swirling about the possible sale of Activision-Blizzard after the departure of Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy this week. Vivendi owns 61% of Acti-Blizz, and Levy reportedly walked over a disagreement about splitting up the French holding company.

How this affects Activision-Blizzard remains to be seen, but Bloomberg says that Vivendi is looking to sell its entire stake, according to "a person with knowledge of the situation." The Wall Street Journal says that Vivendi's board of directors is mulling whether or not to split the company, which could potentially affect Blizzard and its World of Warcraft and Diablo III titles.

Update 1.3 for Star Wars: The Old Republic is nearly upon us. Developers at BioWare hope that this update gives players a better sense of community. In other words, some server populations are really low, and it sucks to play on them. Update 1.3 hopes to diminish that feeling of loneliness with the two biggest features in 1.3: the group finder and server transfers.

Game launches vary in scale and scope. SWTOR's launch was huge! Over two million copies of the game were sold, and over 150 servers spun up the first week. That made some of features you'd find in older MMOs redundant. Group finders and server transfers are really not necessary when you have everything that you need at your fingertips.

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Just a few days ago, expansion talk for RIFT was fueled by a mysterious box containing an assortment of items and emblazoned with the phrase "A Storm Is Brewing." According to legal documents, Trion Worlds just trademarked the title Storm Legion, touching off even more speculation about a possible expansion. Some fans are already discussing what storylines might be developed in such an expansion; so far, the consensus seems to be for evolving the lore of Crucia and Regulos.

While there is no official word on an expansion, signs are certainly pointing to one. As soon as we get more information we will pass it along.

[Thanks to Marc for the tip!]

It's my sincerest hope that we never again have a news week like we did last week. Every mistake that could be made in MMO development was made this past week.

Obviously, the biggest news revolved around the 38 Studios fiasco. Perhaps it's hard when you're in the midst of a development cycle and concentrating on deadlines and milestones to see the larger picture and the proverbial writing on the wall. It should have been obvious to the developers behind the scenes the project was doomed, but I say that with 20/20 hindsight.

Of course, Star Wars: The Old Republic won't be outdone by 38 Studios. BioWare had to flood the feeds with its own bad news in the form of layoffs. Then almost in the same breath, it announced that the game will be merging servers. I guess SWTOR couldn't be outdone by itself, either. It had to add insult to its own injury. Although the timing of the layoffs was a bit surprising, those of us observing from the outside could see the server merges coming.

The stories in Star Wars aren't just about good conquering evil, but they are also about redemption and good coming out of a bad situation. The tragedy of Luke's aunt and uncle being killed was the catalyst that started his journey to becoming a great hero and Jedi Knight. Darth Vader was ultimately redeemed when he killed the emperor. But is there the same redemption for SWTOR? Will it ultimately become the great game everyone was hoping that it would be?

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We saw this with DC Universe Online: when the population dropped below the level SOE was looking for, it decided to combine all the individual servers into a small group of mega-servers. The same thing could be a distinct possibility for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Yesterday, we reported on PC Gamer's interview with Lead Game Designer Daniel Erickson. When asked if the new group finder would be cross-server, Erickson replied that it would be single-server because "we are coming up on a huge move to servers with massively higher population caps than we have today."

Of course, there are no details about these massive servers yet, but this quote does suggest that BioWare is looking for a critical-mass solution that is more than just simple character transfers. We will be sure to keep you abreast of the details as we inch closer to the launch of Update 1.3.

38 Studios is one of many developers whose first big game (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) was rumored to lead into an MMO further on down the line. It looks like there may be storm clouds on the horizon before that project even gets moving, however, as the company may be facing financial issues. Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has apparently been meeting with owner Curt Schilling to work on "different issues," with Chafee noting that his administration has always tried to ensure that Rhode Island companies remain financially solvent.

If you consider that Rhode Island invested about $75 million in the company, it's obvious that the government has an interest in making the company remain viable over the long term. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was a moderate hit, but that might not be enough for the company as it develops. We'll have more on this story as it develops, hopefully with better news.

Forbes reported on a rumored takeover of Electronic Arts by Nexon earlier this morning. The magazine noted that EA shares spiked following a supposed bid by the Korean gaming giant.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter weighed in on the rumors at GamesIndustry.biz, saying that the deal "cannot happen." He guesstimates that EA will balk at any such deal because "Nexon couldn't pull off a stock-for-stock deal [...] and would have difficulty financing an all-cash deal to make EA shareholders happy."

Pachter floats a few numbers in his analysis, and he also notes that EA CEO John Riccitiello isn't likely to cede control of the company to anyone outside of EA management.

Runes of Magic's third anniversary is finally upon us. Frogster has been gearing up for the event by holding diamond sales and cash-shop specials. Each anniversary, you can also take part in multiple frog-related quests and events. Frog-bashing, frog disguises, and more frog-bashing have long been a staple. Frog-racing and frog etiquette have been added to the roster. What's frog etiquette? Why, it's either insulting or complimenting frogs, silly. During the festivities, various freebies are usually handed out to players who log in, as well.

The real question is what's new in the land of Taborea, but if you wanted to know about new lands or dungeons, you'll have to wait a little bit longer. There's no official word, but given the time that's passed and the unofficial images and information that are floating around the Internet, we know Chapter 5 can't be too far off. There are still players out there who are far from making their way through the Chapter 4 content, but many guilds on the cutting edge are starting to trample Tomb of the Seven Heroes into a well-worn path.

During this intermediary period, Runewaker added the random attribute extractor and the costume interface. This isn't a replacement to aggregating; it's more like an extension. Most recently, the team introduced a patch containing bug fixes and a sprinkling of changes to the user interface, guilds, pets, vendor NPCs, quests, crafting, and skills. Some of the most exciting information is sketchy but does point to two possible new classes. And what class (or race?) could possibly have skills with names like "forge" and "runecraft" in them? Hmm...

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You know, that pesky Elder Scrolls MMO rumor just won't die. We've been hearing scuttlebutt of a Tamriel-themed massively multiplayer title for years now, and even though Bethesda has debunked such gossip in the past, Tom's Hardware is citing an "industry source" who says the title is a reality.

The latest rumbling posits that the game will feature three factions and will take place several hundred years prior to the events of Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. Also, some sort of official announcement is supposedly scheduled for May. Following that, the source claims, the Elder Scrolls MMO will have a "presence at E3" in June.

Bethesda has yet to comment, but we'll bring you the latest info as it happens.

[Thanks to Matt for the tip!]

The rumor mill is churning fast and furious today as heavy speculation is swirling about a possible release date for Diablo III: April 17th. This comes from Italian website mmorpgitalia, which reports that retailers are clearing space for their shelves on the 17th after a tip from Activision Italy.

Blizzard, of course, is declining to comment on the rumor, although Game Director Jay Wilson says that an "all-important announcement" -- most likely the release date -- is imminent. When asked on Twitter how soon the announcement would arrive (on a scale of 1-10), Wilson replied with a simple "9."

Tomorrow begins the CeBIT 2012 trade show in Europe, and Blizzard will be present to show off the Diablo III beta. If an announcement is to be made, this event might make a good a platform as any from which to tell the gaming world which day it's going to need to take off from work.