LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment announced last week that they will shut down Star Wars Galaxies, effective December 15.

"The shutdown of SWG is a very difficult decision, but SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time to end the game," the companies said in a note on the game's support forum.

The closure affects the MMO and the Trading Card Game. To soften the blow, Sony and LucasArts said the current SWG community will be able to take advantage of a "galaxy-ending in-game event" in December.

"During the last week that SWG is available ... we're going to end with a bang and we want the final chapter of the galaxy to be written in part by the dedicated and passionate SWG community. Details will be announced at a later date," the companies said.

Active SWG subscribers in good standing, meanwhile, will be able to play several SOE massively multiplayer online PC games at the subscriber level at no extra charge. Between October 15 and December 15, those users will have access to Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, EverQuest, EverQuest II, and DC Universe Online via the Star Wars Galaxies Web site.

Effective June 24, however, 3-, 6-, and 12-month subscription packs, as well as the TCG store, were turned off. On September 15, the SWG MMO and Trading Card Game will no longer be available for sale or subscription, and Sony and LucasArts will no longer accept new accounts. Billing will be turned off on October 15 and all free game trials will be shuttered by December 31.

In an interview with Joystiq, SOE president John Smedley said the closure was "first and foremost a business decision mutually agreed upon between SOE and LucasArts. LucasArts has a new game coming out, and 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 that a recent hack of SOE and the PlayStation Network had anything to do with the shutdown. "We have been in talks with LucasArts for a while about this," he said.

This article, written by Chloe Albanesius, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.