On the one side, hearing Electronic Arts confirm that Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't expected out in fiscal 2011 is a sad thing. On the other hand, we sort of saw this coming. In fact, we so saw this coming. During EA's fourth-quarter earnings conference call, CEO John Riccitiello briefly touched on the fact that an MMO in development by the company wouldn't be out until, at the earliest, April 2011. Refusing to let the ambiguity permeate for too long, it was eventually asked if the game in question was, indeed, The Old Republic. It was.

Again, this shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone, especially considering the lack of a solid release date thus far. In the last call, Riccitiello said that ToR was expected for release next spring, which means the game will likely see a release in the early months of fiscal 2012.

Plenty of publishers out there are happy releasing MMORPGs in a near-finished state, fixing bugs as time goes on. In an industry where World of Warcraft is king, that's really not an option anymore, so spending more development time is a good thing. We're expecting to see the game in action at this year's E3, and we'll be sure to bring back reports from whatever planet the demo happens to take place on.

[Source]