Star Wars: The Old Republic is Finally Getting its Massive Server Upgrade
It's been a long time coming, but Star Wars: The Old Republic has finally moved its servers to the cloud.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the longest-running MMOs that remains playable. In fact, the game has been around for so long that it actually changed development hands earlier this year as original developer Bioware looked to move on to other projects. In the new hands of Broadsword, the game will now be moving its servers to the cloud. It's important to note that this move has been in the works for months, well before Bioware passed the project on. That said, this is one of the first significant steps Broadsword is making alongside publisher Electronic Arts, making it very important that the team makes the change smoothly.
Fortunately, the team has been putting in quite a bit of work to do just that. The Star War: The Old Republic Public Test Servers were moved to the cloud last year to help prep for the move. Plus, they dropped a brand-new server on Amazon's Web Services (AWS) in April as part of the ongoing testing. With all of that under its belt, Broadsword should be able to make the change without too many issues.
SWTOR to begin moving servers to the cloud beginning August 15th! https://t.co/jAhknlbLs9 pic.twitter.com/7swBvxsbe7
— The Old Republic (@SWTOR) August 11, 2023
As far as what this means for Star Wars: The Old Republic, fans can expect this move to help "modernize" the game. For example, Broadsword points to this allowing them to deliver crucial backend updates more quickly and says they'll now have access to "automation workflows" that will help the team maintain the game far into the future. The server migration is set to take place on August 15. This first move will only include a small batch of servers, so it's important to check if yours is on the list. If so, you should expect around six hours of downtime. The server switch will eventually come to every server, but Broadsword wants to take things slowly to "minimize long term impact on play time."
Regardless, it will eventually come to everyone, which should help modernize Star Wars: The Old Republic in a few important ways. It also might help entice new players to hop into the game, which is available now on PC. Remember, the game is free-to-play, making it an even more attractive package for Star Wars fans.