EA and Bioware's upcoming MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, was always going to be a crowd puller, it's Star Wars after all. And now, the MMO that's going to attempt to dethrone the all powerful WoW has gotten a pretty sizeable morale boost.

According to Gamespot, EA CFO Eric Brown stated recently that nearly 1.5 million gamers had signed up to participate in the game's initial beta-testing phase. EA has previously said that the title would be profitable with only 500 000 subscribers, so triple that for a beta turnout isn't bad at all.

Brown also stated that the game has a potential audience of about 12 million players. “If you look at the Western World, we'd estimate there are about 12 million people or so playing one or more MMOs. Roughly half are playing World of Warcraft... so there's 12 million people to go after, 6 million of whom are playing one game and 6 million are playing a combination of other games. And then there's obviously an opportunity in Asia.”

 

The Old Republic will see millions of Star Wars fans from all over the world engaging in lightsaber, blaster and force combat online. A myriad of different classes will be available to choose from, each with their own unique abilities and storylines. Will you join the Jedi and the Republic in the quest for justice or fight for the sinister Sith Empire? 

Brown promised that more details surrounding the game would be unveiled at this year's E3 expo in June, with a release date expected in the third or fourth quarter of the year.

 

 EA pulls Crysis 2 PS3 beta

EA today announced that it would be pulling the PlayStation 3 multiplayer beta of Crysis 2 from the PlayStation servers in lieu of some players experiencing technical issues with the game.

A post on the official Crysis forums states that “server connection delays” was one of the main issues players had experienced in the game. The post (from an EA employee) went on to state that the problems would be addressed for a “flawless” release next week, CVG reported.

Crysis 2 will mark the series' first foray into the console world, and it remains to be seen how the Xbox 360 and PS3 will handle the notoriously high performance game.

 

Homefront on sale today

Today sees THQ and Kaos Studios' first person shooter Homefront hitting stores across South Africa. The game sees a fictional invasion of the US taking place, with the player battling against the odds to survive the brutal occupation. Homefront is available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Check out our Homefront interview and preview for more information on the game.

Portal 2 is almost here

When Valve released the small first person puzzle game Portal alongside its Orange Box bundle back in 2007, the company almost surely didn't expect the little game to reach the phenomenal levels of popularity it has today.

Now it's time to revisit Glados and the dimension ripping world of Portal once more in next month's Portal 2. The second game sees major updates to the graphics and engine, two player co-op play and even cross platform play on the PC and PS3. Portal 2 is coming out for all three major platforms on the 21st of April, so in the meantime we'll have to be content with TV trailers like this one helping us weather the storm.