EA today confirmed to the website Gamasutra that Bioware’s upcoming MMO “Star Wars: The Old Republic” will have a limited launch.

This means that only so many digital and physical copies of the game will be sold so that SWTOR doesn’t suffer any traffic related launch issues. Launch issues have plagued a lot of MMOs in the past from Star Wars Galaxies and World of Warcraft to name but a few so EA and Bioware are taking the necessary precautions in their eyes.
Game Informer were told that EA will shut down the ability to download the game at launch when they have reached their chosen limit and wouldn’t be reactivated until EA felt it was fine to increase capacity.

There is no word on what the limit is but people who have gotten pre-orders shouldn’t worry as they will get priority access over regular purchasers.

Personally I am interested in SW:TOR but I am not willing to commit to a pre-order yet and I don’t like the idea that if I don’t pre-order I can’t play the game when it comes out. It is a wise move by EA but it may just put off some potential purchasers.

Source: Gamasutra