Star Wars: The Old Republic hit with layoffs amid subscriber loss

Though it started out extremely promising, it looks like Star Wars: The Old Republic has fallen on somewhat hard times. Though EA still says the MMO is doing well, they have begun a round of layoffs after the revelation that the MMO has lost 25% of its subscribers.

"Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality," reads an official post on the SWTOR forums. "Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect."

This comes mere weeks after an impressive earnings call at Activision-Blizzard that showed World of Warcraft subscriptions had stabilized, and Blizzard was optimistic about the future of the game.

EA issued a statement on the matter to Shack News saying, "BioWare has restructured its studio in Austin today. Of the employees impacted, some will be able to join other projects within EA, others will leave the company. These are very difficult decisions, but it allows us to focus our staff to maintain and grow Star Wars: The Old Republic."

"We still have a very substantial development team working on supporting and growing the game, and we feel we are in a strong position, with your continued involvement and feedback, to continue to build Star Wars: The Old Republic as one of the most compelling and successful online experiences in the world today."

At one time it looked like Star Wars: The Old Republic was an unstoppable behemoth that would finally spell the end for World of Warcraft. Now we're not so sure.