Star Wars: Galaxies servers to close on December 15th. SOE: "It's the right time for the game to end"

Venerable MMO Star Wars Galaxies will shut it's doors on December 15th of this Christmas after eight long years.

of this Christmas after eight long years. Bowing out at the same time another Star Wars themed MMOtakes centre stage.

Details on the closure within.

Speaking with MassivelyPresident of Sony Online Entertainment John Smedley said that the closure was a "Mutual business decision" and that "The contract would be running out in 2012 anyway, so we feel like it's the right time for the game to end."

Smedley denied the recent hackingof Sony Online Entertainment had anything to do with the closure had anything to do with the decision, saying; "We have been in talks with LucasArts for a while about this, and we've just been trying to figure out the exact timing for a while now. None of that stuff had anything to do with this."

He also said that the game's cancellation was not due to low population numbers, saying the "Populations have stayed pretty steady for a long time now" but that fans would not be allowed to access the source code in order to run their own servers post closure. He remained upbeat, saying: "The game's been running for a long time now, and it's been a great run. We're glad to have done it."

In game events leading up to the closure seem likely, with Sony planning to detail them in upcoming weeks, subscribers will also get the chance to play some other Sony Online Entertainment games for free in towards the end of the MMO. Anyone wanting to participate in those final events will need to be a subscriber 'in good standing' by September 15th.