[keg in kc]

This actually isn't too awfully far off from my 'holiday 2010' expectations:

Star Wars: The Old Republic Delayed Until 2011?

By Bryn Williams | Jan 12, 2010

EA's CEO John Riccitiello mentions that the company's 'new major MMO' won't hit until next year.
There's some confusion as to exactly which new MMO EA's John Riccitiello was referring to in a statement issued yesterday, but the chances are that BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic won't land in stores until sometime in 2011. GameSpot's coverage suggests that either The Old Republic or possibly Realtime Worlds' APB could slip into next year.

Riccitiello also said that the company is planning to launch "our major new MMO"--presumably BioWare Austin's Star Wars: The Old Republic--in "spring 2011." It was unclear if he meant calendar year 2011, or EA's 2011 fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2011.

[UPDATE 2] When asked if Riccitiello was talking about SW: TOR, an EA rep would only offer the following statement: "No further comment beyond what John said. This wasn't a comment about a specific franchise, but a notation on how we are building a plan and guidance for the next fiscal year."

Since December 2008, EA has cut around 2,500 jobs, a figure which factors heavily into our earlier story of the videogame industry in crisis.

And a specific spring 2011 statement from a dev on the tor forums:

While we have not announced a specific date, we can confirm that we are targeting a spring 2011 release for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. We’ve got a lot of exciting updates and reveals planned throughout 2010, including the first-ever hands-on testing for the game. It’s not too late to sign up to be a game tester, so go to www.swtor.com/tester and sign up today. We can’t wait to share more about the game with you as we progress through the year, so make sure you stay tuned to the official website for details.