#5 The Old Republic
Sure, The Old Republic was technically released late last year, but 2012 will be when BioWare's first MMO really shows its legs. As EA finishes rolling out the game globally this spring, they'll face their first big test, working out the scaling bugs that have spelled huge queue times for many early adopters. If The Old Republic can clear that hurdle, it faces its next challenge: keeping subscribers interested. More than a million copies of the game sold at launch, and if BioWare can keep those folks onboard and happy, long-term prospects are looking pretty good. Sooner or later, though, hardcore fans are going to plow their way through the base game and be hungry for more.
An awful lot is riding on the game's continued development, be it in incremental patches, well orchestrated events, or beefy expansions. Given the game's heavy emphasis on storytelling and voice acted dialogue, adding engaging new content won't be a trivial task. Thankfully, BioWare is well aware of this fact, and they've already laid out some of their plans for the game's future. Provided they can deliver on their promises, 2012 just might be the year The Old Republic ascends to the MMO throne.
A quick word of warning to the team, though: That Gungan patch you're working on? Bad idea.
