Of all the MMORPGs vying for World of Warcraft's crown, Star Wars: The Old Republic stands a pretty fair chance against Blizzard's juggernaut. But being a contender doesn't come cheap, as EA's chief financial officer Eric Brown explained in today's meeting with Wedbush Morgan Securities in New York. In fact, Brown called The Old Republic the "largest ever development project, period, in the history of the company."

According to a report on Eurogamer, Brown outlined the average cost of an EA developed game at around $30 million. MMOs, however, cost "significantly more than that," and Brown estimates that World of Warcraft specifically may have required upwards of $100 million. "That's lifetime research and development to actually ship it and obviously then there's maintenance subsequent to ship and expansion packs," Brown continued.

So, if World of Warcraft took $100 million to get off the ground back in 2004, how much can EA expect to spend on their Star Wars MMO? Brown didn't throw out any numbers of his own, but even if we assume The Old Republic costs the exact same amount to launch as Blizzard's game, that's still forgetting a couple key expenses: any costs associated with the Star Wars license, and, if you really wanted to be picky about it, the $620-million-plus EA spent acquiring developer Bioware and Pandemic back in 2007.