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Star Wars Galaxies

A Star Wars sandbox MMORPG with deep skill customization.

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Sony Online Entertainment developed and LucasArts published a Star Wars–themed MMORPG for Windows called Star Wars Galaxies.[1] Because the contract ended, the game's servers were taken offline on December 15, 2011.[2]

Making and release

A partnership among LucasArts Entertainment, Verant Interactive (creators of EverQuest), and Sony Online Entertainment to create a Star Wars online role-playing game was announced in 2000.[3] Development of the first expansion, which would feature outer space gameplay, was revealed on May 17, 2001.[4] July 2002 marked the start of the closed beta test.[5] On June 17, LucasArts announced that the game would finally launch on June 26, 2003.[6]

What the cited sources add

A 2009 Engadget article reported that Sony Online Entertainment announced the shutdown of 12 servers on October 15, bringing the number of active servers to 13.[7] The same article listed the 12 servers being shut down and stated that character creation was disabled on those servers as of the announcement.[7] A Kotaku article from December 15, 2011 described the final hours of Star Wars Galaxies, noting that control of each territory in the game was weighted and whichever faction controlled the most territory would be declared the final winner.[8] The Kotaku article also reported an appearance of the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi during the final events.[8]

The game closed with server messages including “Get on board the Falcon, kid,” and “Goodbye Star Wars Galaxies”.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Star Wars Galaxies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "LucasArts, Verant, And Sony Online Entertainment Join Forces In Massively Multiplayer Online Star Wars Game", LucasArts, 16 March 2000; "Star Wars Galaxies: A Brief History", MMO Folklorist, 2023-01-05; Vitka, "Mailbag: Star Wars Galaxies", CBS News, 11 February 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Star Wars Galaxies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG to close this year'", The Daily Telegraph, 27 June 2011; "Online game Star Wars Galaxies set to close", BBC News, 2011-06-27; "Star Wars Galaxies Is Dead, But These People Are Keeping It Alive", Kotaku, 2016-09-13; Messner, "How Players Revived Star Wars Galaxies And EverQuest", Rock, Paper, Shotgun, 2015-12-30; Shirey, "Star Wars Galaxies' Impressive Fan Restoration Project Adds Mustafar", ScreenRant, 2022-09-14; Murray, "Star Wars Galaxies Gets Resurrected After More Than A Decade", TheGamer, 2022-01-31 ( en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Star Wars Galaxies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "LucasArts, Verant, And Sony Online Entertainment Join Forces In Massively Multiplayer Online Star Wars Game", LucasArts, 16 March 2000; "Star Wars Online Announced: Three heavy hitters announce what could be one of the biggest games of all times.", IGN, 16 March 2000 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Star Wars Galaxies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "LucasArts Announces Space-Based Expansion For Star Wars Galaxies Online Game Series", LucasArts, 17 May 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Star Wars Galaxies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Galaxies Beta", IGN, 3 May 2002; "Star Wars Galaxies Site Update", IGN, 16 December 2002; "Galaxies on Xbox", IGN, 20 May 2002; "Star Wars Galaxies On PS2", IGN, 20 May 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Star Wars Galaxies" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Butts, "Star Wars Galaxies Delayed", IGN, 14 March 2003; "Star Wars Galaxies - Release Date Announced", IGN, 17 June 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Brennan, "Star Wars Galaxies to shut down 12 servers", Engadget, 15 September 2009. facts only, no text reused. engadget.com
  8. "Goodbye, Star Wars Galaxies", Kotaku, 15 December 2011. facts only, no text reused. kotaku.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Star Wars Galaxies (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was "Star Wars Galaxies" first released?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2003.

2. Who directed "Star Wars Galaxies"?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Raph Koster.

3. Which company published "Star Wars Galaxies"?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is LucasArts.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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