EA: Once pre-orders for SWTOR "are gone, they are gone"

EA has further confirmed it will be limiting both digital and physical pre-orders for Star Wars: The Old Republic, so as not to flood the game’s servers at launch.

Hinted around at during its financial call to investors in July, and confirmed by BioWare during a ComicCon panel that same month, EA has clarified just what exactly “limited pre-orders” mean to Gamasutra.

"We are limiting launch quantities of Star Wars: The Old Republic to ensure players have a smooth and high quality game experience and service at launch," said a representative for both EA and BioWare.

"All versions of the game -- physical and digital -- are available for pre-order on a limited basis only. Once they are gone, they are gone.”

According to EA, once the pre-order limit is reached, downloading of the game will be shuttered until the server infrastructure can be modified to handle an overwhelming capacity.

While a bit disappointing for those who may not be able to get into the game right away, EA is wanting to make sure the users first experience with the MMO is not marred by an overly bombarded registration system, or horrible framerates and an overworked server system in general.

Anyone who has played an MMO at launch, or when a highly-anticipated expansion goes live, can attest to such frustrating inconveniences as these.

While The Old Republic doesn’t have a firm release date in place, EA has repeatedly said the MMO is targeted for a holiday 2011 launch.

Firmer details on the game’s launch are expected during the firm’s Q2 results, with EA CEO John Riccitiello specifically stating it would be in a position to give a release date in September.

Open beta weekends for the game are set to launch in September.