EA and BioWare really, really hope you'll keep that subscription to Star Wars: The Old Republic going, now that some of you have moved beyond the 30 day trial period. They've got a $200 million development bill to pay off, according to a new report.

It's the LA Times that put that Death Star-size price tag on the development of the massively multiplayer online game, attributing the steep cost to many years of development across many worldwide studios employing hundreds of artists and programmers, not to mention the many, many hours of dialogue localized into a handful of languages.

The costs don't stop there, naturally, as the Times reports that EA is expected to sink "tens of millions of additional dollars per year" to keep The Old Republic going.

While BioWare and EA may be on their way to recouping dev costs, the spread of free-to-play MMOs and the continuing dominance of World of Warcraft will mean an uphill battle for The Old Republic.

Also of note: The LA Times writes that, prior to beginning work on Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare attempted to adapt The Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones and various Marvel Comics characters — specifically Spider-Man — into video games. Given that BioWare once churned out a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG, little surprises us anymore, but BioWare's spin on Spidey would've been interesting…

LA Times: Star Wars: The Old Republic — the story behind a galactic gamble