LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez has indicated that while no business models have been announced for the forthcoming BioWare-developed MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, a variety of options might be employed - including subscriptions and micro-transactions.

It will be interesting to see how the game will be received by the fan base should it include microtransaction features. What will be the cost price of the game? Or will it follow the South Korean games business model. Generally, games of this nature have to be designed from inception; microtransactions cannot easily be introduced at a later date. Therefore an allowance must have been made for such features and now presumably it is a commercial decision.

At this year's Gamescom event in Cologne Rodriguez was up-beat that the game would stand the test of time, following the seven years-plus that original MMO Star Wars Galaxies has so far clocked it wouldn't be surprising - but then it is up to the players as Rodriguez knows.

The Star Wars universe has been developed into a number of titles over the years - Jedi Knight, X-Wing vs Tie Fighter, LEGO Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic come to mind. It will be interesting to see how this game will match up.