SWTOR's Galactic Starfighter expansion to remain PvP only for foreseeable future

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Star Wars: The Old Republic's free Galactic Starfighter expansion is bringing PvP space dogfighting to the sci-fi MMO on either December, January or February, depending on how much BioWare love you . Fans hoping for a PvE variant will have longer to wait. That's "longer" as in, between a very, very long time away, and the full heat death of the universe.

"I asked about the possibility that Galactic Starfighter was designed with PvE in mind. [BioWare] said no, it was not. That is far far far far far down on the wall of crazy, is PvE Starfighter. [BioWare] said the biggest problems would be with scripting and 3-D AI; things that they don't have in the game they would basically have to write fresh.

"The good thing about PvE is the good scripting. Getting the ability in at the right time makes it interesting and fun, but not unfair. You know, getting those enrage timers right. Getting like a DOT thrown out at the right time. Stuff that has to be done really well for PvE to work right. And for them to do that in space would be a lot of work. So problems with scripting and AI would be reasons that we won't be seeing PvE Galactic starfighter."

I can't see players being too upset about the absence of PvE plans, especially given that the long-awaited off-rails dogfighter sounds perfect as a PvP addition. While the desire for a reboot of X-Wing or TIE Fighter is strong, it's probably a bit much to expect the team to create one inside of an existing MMO. You can see the announcement trailer for Galactic Starfighter below.

Phil Savage
Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.