Star Wars: The Old Republic to add playable cat people in update 2.1

With a new expansion now under their bandoleer, Bioware have begun to preview The Old Republic's next update. The 2.1 patch is titled "Customization", which should give some idea of its focus, but also adds Star Wars' cat-like Cathar as a playable race. Which is great news for any group looking for an easy way into some Thundercats roleplay. Although good luck finding anyone to be Snarf.

In addition to the short Cathar teaser, this month's The Old Republic Insider update hints at some of the features that will likely be reserved for the patch. Specifically, it mentions an Appearance Designer Kiosk, allowing you to completely redesign you character - changing colour, hair style, body type and species. In addition, armour sets will have the option to be re-coloured. While there's no official release date for the update, the Insider video mentions these features arriving "not long after April".

Not to criticise the Star Wars franchise, but calling your race of cat-people the Cathar seems a bit lazy. I'm off to trawl through the extended universe, looking for references to the Doghar and Bunnyhar. Which galactic races would you like to see added to the game?

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.