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Early last Thursday morning, BioWare took the big leap and announced the start of pre-orders on their website. Though they avoid to actually nail down a release date, speculation is ranging anywhere from October to December. Pre-order information included the revelation that a limited number of pre-orders, across all editions of the game, would be accepted. That is in part due to announcement of early-access to the  game with the purchase of one of three different variations of the game. They include a normal edition for $59, and Digital Deluxe edition for $79, and a Collectors Edition for a steep $150. Once you decide how you want to go about ordering the game and actually order it, an email will be sent with a special early access code that you register on the game’s website.

What is interesting is the details of the game itself on the pre-order page. If you take a look closely under the description of each version of the game, you’ll notice the grey note stating that “30 days game time” is included with the purchase. This leads us to believe that The Old Republic will in fact have a monthly fee associated with it. Also interesting is the footnote following the giant “pre-order” title at the top. In it, it has the following sentence which also makes us believe in a monthly description:

ACCEPTANCE OF END USER ACCESS AND LICENSE AGREEMENT, PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION, ACCOUNT REGISTRATION (13+ TO REGISTER), PAID SUBSCRIPTION AND VALID PAYMENT METHOD REQUIRED TO ACCESS GAMEPLAY.

Unfortunately it looks like BioWare is taking the same approach as the other MMOs unless they have something else up their sleeve. We shall have to wait and find out until the release.

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Related posts:

1. Star Wars The Old Republic: Largest Project Created by EA ^[3]
2. Star Wars: The Old Republic E3 2011 Return Trailer ^[4]
3. Promotional Peripherals for Star Wars: The Old Republic ^[5]
4. Star Wars The Old Republic: Fully Voiced ^[6]