Alderaan Revealed as Playable Planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic

On Friday, BioWare  announced that the latest planet available for players to explore is Alderaan – That planet that went boom in the Original Star Wars movie.

It’s good to see BioWare offering fans of the franchise what they want to see. The planet of Alderaan is a huge area of intrigue in the Star Wars community, spawning a ludicrous amount of fan-fiction and requests for games developers to utilize it in their titles. Gamers interested in the latest addition to this upcoming game can enjoy a detailed look at the planet through the game’s Holonet.

The official website states;

“Ever wonder what happened on Alderaan before the Death Star reduced it to an asteroid field? Now you can see it for yourself! We are excited to announce Alderaan – a planet famed for its natural beauty – as the next playable planet in The Old Republic! For thousands of years this planet has been a shining example of peace and diplomacy, but now a bloody civil war threatens the legacy, and the very future of Alderaan.”

Star Wars: The Old Republic (TOR) was first announced at an invitation only press-release, back in October 2008. The game is set over 3,500 years before the events that take place in the Star Wars film series, and 300 years after the award winning game, Knights of the Old Republic. The game marks BioWare’s debut into the MMORPG market and, having churned out a series of classics for the current gaming generation already, all eyes will be on them once the game is released.

No official release date has been given, but considering MMO’s tend to take around 5 years in  the development phase and that the game under went construction in 2005, we may well see this game hitting the shelves at some point during 2010.