Star Wars: The Old Republic lead writer calls out BioWare for snubbing the MMO

Yesterday was a pretty bleak day for the videogame industry, as BioWare announced the end of its more than 30-year run. It’s closing down and development on the next Mass Effect has ceased. For Star Wars: The Old Republic lead writer Caitlin Sullivan Kelly, however, the announcement was upsetting for an additional reason: SWTOR was snubbed.

In BioWare’s post, shared on social media, the studio listed Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Anthem. But not the MMO that’s been running for nearly 15 years.

Quoting the announcement, Kelly said, “No mention of the game that’s been going for almost 15 years, that supported the studio and all of its projects with income and manpower and time (sometimes to our own detriment). Heartbreaking.”

The desire to get recognition for hard work and maintaining a successful MMO when so many others have fallen by the wayside is entirely understandable, but there’s important context that makes this seem less like a snub than is being implied.

While BioWare did create SWTOR and ran it for many years, it’s now a Broadsword game and has been since 2023. Which is fortunate, because now it’s safe from the impact of BioWare closing down.

Now, this alone should not preclude it from getting a mention. Baldur’s Gate got a nod, even though the latest game in the series was developed by Larian and, like SWTOR, won’t be affected by the studio’s demise.

But I’d argue that most of the nods are for franchises, rather than individual games. It doesn’t mention Dragon Age: Origins or Inquisition, either, just Dragon Age. Since KoTOR is in the list, that also covers SWTOR, which is technically a sequel.

It’s not the only omission, either. It’s wild that Anthem—a catastrophic failure that kicked off BioWare’s worst era—got a nod and not Jade Empire. Sonic: Chronicles also doesn’t get a look in, but that’s perhaps a bit more understandable.

All that said, SWTOR absolutely deserves a shout out. Its creation was a vast undertaking, featuring more writing and voice work than any of BioWare’s games before or after. And since then it’s weathered so many storms and persevered. While it doesn’t boast the player numbers of WoW or FF14, it’s still undeniably been a success. It’s also the one BioWare game that will continue even after the studio’s demise.

So BioWare should have absolutely celebrated this feather in its cap, but I don’t think it was snubbed.