Star Wars: The Old Republic's next expansion, Galactic Strongholds, will bring player housing the to the free-to-play game beginning in June, developer BioWare revealed today.
According to an announcement posted on The Old Republic's official site, subscribers as of May 11 will receive access June 24. Preferred Status Players (those who were once subscribers as well as those who've made an in-game purchase of $4.99 or greater) will gain access to Galactic Strongholds July 29. It will arrive for all other players in August.
Galactic Strongholds, which you can see in the trailer above, will allow players to take up residence on multiple planets and invite friends from any location. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game will have hundreds of decorations and let players increase their Prestige score as they rank up in the Stronghold Directory. When it launches this summer, Galactic Strongholds will also include Guild Flagships, where guilds can meet.
To celebrate the announcement, which BioWare teased early this month, the developer is giving 500 bonus Cartel Coins to subscribers as of April 2 and an additional 1,000 to subscribers as of May 4. Subscribers as of May 11 will also receive a "Luxurious Nar Shaddaa Stronghold with three additional rooms unlocked," valued at 1,500,000 credits, a "Galactic Stronghold" label and "The Illustrious" character title. Subscribers as of June 24 will receive a "Nar Shaddaa Stronghold," valued at $250,000 credits, as well as the label and title for May 11 subscribers. When they receive access July 29, Preferred Status players will receive the label and title but not the bonus housing.
Star Wars: The Old Republic's most recent expansion, Galactic Starfighter, brought spaceship battles to the MMORPG. For more information, be sure to read our launch coverage, which includes insights about the Windows PC game's expansion from its developers.
Earlier this year, BioWare revealed its 2014 roadmap for Star Wars: The Old Republic, which includes two expansions, a switch from a two-week to a three-week cycle between minor patches and a nine-week cycle for major content updates.
