The player

The Force may be with Ireland as gamemaker BioWare sets up shop in Galway, writes CIARA O'BRIEN

EA-OWNED BioWare is getting ready to launch its latest massive multiplayer online (MMO) game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, pencilled in for December.

After a hands-on preview, we can report that the game looks pretty amazing. It allows you to either take on the role of a Jedi knight or join the dark side with the Sith, and explore a massive world, but yet still has a storyline you actually care about. What’s not to like?

The Old Republichas also given the industry in Ireland a lift with the news that BioWare's facility in Galway will employ about 400 before long. For a country in the grips of a recession (as if we could miss it) that is welcome news.

A game with the scope of Star Warsneeds round-the- clock support, and gamers worldwide will be playing it 24/7. So if something goes wrong, there needs to be someone on hand to provide customer support, regardless of whether it's 2am or 5pm.

The Old Republicshows just how much games have evolved in recent years. It's no longer a case that developers finish a game, ship it to the store and then begin work on the next one. These days, videogames are like relationships: you have to put the time and effort in to ensure that people are happy with your digital masterpiece and, most important of all, keep them coming back day after day to play.

You’re only as good as your last game, it’s something that developers are painfully aware of.

It’s encouraging that Ireland gets to play a part in this with BioWare. The Canadian company, which was founded in 1995 before being bought by EA in 2008, is mainly based in North America. In fact, the Irish facility is the first outside North America.

The Government hopes that hosting a firm with BioWare’s reputation will encourage similar companies to set up shop here. And we’re already gathering a little tech hub in Ireland. Google and Facebook have operations here. Twitter is opening a Dublin office. Gaming firms such as PopCap and Zynga have set up shop as well.

So the next time someone is shouting at you to put down a videogame, or get off Facebook, encourage them to think of it less as wasting your and more as helping grow an industry that might help pull us out of the economic slump.

You never know, it might even work.