Star Wars Galaxies Shutting Down In December

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Today happens to be the eighth anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies’ North American launch, but unfortunately there isn’t much for players to celebrate, because Sony Online Entertainment has revealed that they’re pulling the plug on the MMO before the end of 2011.

Sony Online Entertainment has already stopped offering three, six, and twelve month subscriptions to the MMO and taken down the TCG store, with Star Wars Galaxies and the TCG only being available for purchase until Septermber 15th. After the 15th, SOE won’t be accepting any new or reactivated accounts, so if for some reason you want to create an account for an MMO just a few months before it goes dark, do it before then.

SOE says they’ll cease billing on the 15th of October, which is when their “Fan Appreciation” deal kicks in as well. To thank their fans for sticking by the title until the end, SOE is offering those with SWG accounts in good standing two month free trials to a bunch of their other MMOs: Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, Everquest, Everquest II and DC Universe Online.

There’s no limit to how many of those you can test-run either – if you want to play all five MMOs at once, go for it. Download links will be available on the Star Wars Galaxies website starting October 15th, and you get free access to all of those titles until December 31st, which sounds like a pretty great thank you package to me.

This all culminates with the official shutdown of Star Wars Galaxies on December 15th. It isn’t all gloom though, with SOE promising a “galaxy-ending” in-game event for the final week Star Wars Galaxies is running. “We’re going to end with a bang and we want the final chapter of the galaxy to be written in part by the dedicated and passionate SWG community. Details will be announced at a later date,” the announcement on the SWG website reads.

While the end of this long-running MMO is fast approaching, it sounds like there’s still plenty for players to get excited about before the send-off. So, have any of you stuck by Star Wars Galaxies through the years? Will you be taking advantage of the extended MMO trails? Sound off in the comments section below!