Bioware has officially announced the release date of the next chapter in the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO.
This new episode, titled Anarchy in Paradise, is the first of 7 planned chapters scheduled to release this year and releases on February 11th. This episode introduces a new character to the story, who you can use as a companion. This new character takes the form of a new ally known as the Firebrand. The Firebrand is an infamous gun for hire trying to destroy the Eternal Empire and its emperor by any means necessary. Bioware has said that choices made in previous episodes will start may have consequences in this episode, leaving you to either pick up the pieces of your choices or reap their rewards.
Bioware has also announced the new rewards for their Subscriber Rewards Program, which gives subscribed players some exclusive extras in addition to a monthly gift of cartel coins (the game's free to play currency used to buy special items off the real-money store present in the game). Players who are subscribed on January 11th will receive the HK-55 droid from the story's expansion as a permanent companion, allowing him to be used outside of the expansion's campaign. If you're a subscriber on every 1st of each month (Starting February through August) you will receive ingame items themed after HK-55's gear and weapons, as well as a new mount based on the droid's design.
Players who continuously stay subscribed from February 1 until Agust 1 will gain access to an exclusive bonus chapter not available through other means, where you'll play a campaign as the iconic droid.
Star Wars: The Old Republic went free to play at the end of 2012, and has since garnered a steady and active player base. The Knights of the Fallen Empire is the first big expansion pack to the game that adds a significant portion of the story to the game.
edit: I made a mistake! The next chapter will release on February 11, not January 11. Tomorrow is the deadline if you want the subscriber rewards. This has been fixed in the article.
