Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter is the second Digital Expansion for The Old Republic, and it was first officially announced on October 8, 2013 with an intended release to the general public in February 2014. It centers around the addition of player-vs-player space combat and ship customization.

Development
Galactic Starfighter is the second Digital Expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it was first officially announced on October 8, 2013 with an intended release to the general public in February 2014. Galactic Starfighter was first conceived shortly after the release of The Old Republic, but before the developers could define what the expansion would actually look like, the project was put on hold in favor of additional content and the Free-to-Play system. It was not until August 2012 that the developers resumed work on identifying how they wanted to approach space content. Comments and requests by fans factored into the discussion, and the developers soon established two main factors: free-flight space combat and ship customization. The developers soon decided to pursue player-vs-player combat instead of developing a large open world with story content and massive capital ships, and work started on the expansion's development.

Prior to the official announcement, Galactic Starfighter was teased as the "Super Secret Space Project." It was first mentioned in the second LiveStream Event on November 29, 2012, and was described as "something that is a departure from our normal space game." It was not mentioned again until August 2013, when a teaser video was shown at the Community Cantina Tour in Seattle. The video, framed as footage from a surveillance droid in space and an audio report by an agent of the Shroud addressed to the Shroud, describes the agent's findings that the Republic and the Empire are gathering their naval forces. A Republic fleet attacks an Imperial shipyard, and the video shows gameplay footage of Liberator-class starfighters and Mark VI Supremacy-class starfighters dogfighting before the surveillance droid is destroyed. No other information about the feature or its release date was announced during the Cantina Tour.

Gameplay
Galactic Starfighter will be a Free-to-Play expansion that centers around the addition of player-vs-player space combat to the game. Galactic Starfighter will feature variety of unique starships, customizations and upgrade options for those ships, and multiple gameplay modes and battle zones, including 12 v. 12 space battles. Active subscribers will receive Early Access to Galactic Starfighter on December 3, 2013 when Game Update 2.5 goes live, and Preferred Status Players on January 14; the expansion will be made available to Free-to-Play gamers on February 4. Subscribers will also receive exclusive paint jobs, two pilot suits, two titles, and the maximum leveling and progression benefit available&mdash;a benefit which can also be gained through the purchase of a Starfigher Pass in the Cartel Market. Preferred Status Players will receive two pilot suits and an exclusive title., and any player who is a subscriber by November 1 will receive an exclusive Gunship unlock with custom paint jobs. A trailer entitled "Conflict Rising" was released on the same day as Galactic Starfighter was annnounced.