SONY SHUTTING DOWN MMO STAR WARS GALAXIES

After eight years of serving Star Wars fans, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and LucasArts have decided to shut down the Star Wars Galaxies MMO and associated Trading Card Game later this year.

No specific reasons have been given for why both parties have decided to do this. Sony has just stated it was a really tough decision, but now it’s set in stone. However, the game is set to go out in style, and Sony have a number of things in mind for existing players.

The game servers will be turned off on December 15. Before then, on September 15 you will no longer be able to purchase the trading card game or anything to do with the MMO. This will be followed by an end to all paid subscriptions on October 15, but SOE will allow those users to continue to play for free until the final hours on December 15.

If you do have an existing subscription then it’s worth hanging around until the end in December. SOE is planning a galaxy-ending event of which details will appear in the coming months. SOE is making it clear this will be an event to remember and one it wants all players to be present for.

SONY'S PROBLEMS CONTINUE; SOE CONFIRMS DATA BREACH

Sony Online Entertainment has, apparently, been the victim of another breach that has, according to Nikkei.com, resulted in the release of 12,700 credit card numbers -- and presumably some other information as well. 4,300 of those credit card numbers are said to be Japanese, but no saying how many are American.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sony has also confirmed that the latest attack accessed personal information for a staggering 24.6 million accounts. Such info includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, gender, date of birth, login ID, and hashed passwords.

Thankfully, data is said to be from 2007, minimizing the number of still-valid credit cards exposed making us wonder if perhaps this wasn't some sort of backup that was exposed. Regardless, SOE's online services were taken offline earlier today and, well, now we know why. We're presently expecting further information from the company but, until then, feel free to continue cowering in the corner and quietly sobbing onto your compromised credit cards.