Same-sex romance confirmed for Star Wars: The Old Republic

Same-sex romance is coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare executive producer Jeff Hickman penned a "State of the Game" blog entry today, in which he confirmed that the massively multiplayer online role-playing game will add same-gender romance options with the upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion.

At first, same-sex romance will be limited to "some" NPCs on the new planet Makeb, though more options will be available in the future, Hickman said.

Same-sex romance in Star Wars: The Old Republic has been a long time coming. Hickman apologized that this feature is "taking so long," and said implementing such a system is proving a taller task that originally thought. Hickman explained that same-sex incorporation into The Old Republic was put on the back burner as BioWare focused on implementing the changes necessary to add a free-to-play option.

The Rise of the Hutt Cartel add-on increases the massively multiplayer online role-playing game's level cap to 55, adds a new planet called Makeb, and features fully-voiced conversations.

Star Wars: The Old Republic launched just over a year ago behind generally favorable reviews, selling 2 million copies in its first three months. Subscriber figures fell and the game added a free-to-play option last month.

For more, check out GameSpot's review of Star Wars: The Old Republic.