There will be successes and failures in 2011; some expected, some a surprise, but no publisher is betting bigger than Electronic Arts with . After years of largely fruitless effort, MMO developers have finally come to terms with the fact that making a "WoW killer" is a fanciful pursuit at best, but EA is having one last swing for the fences.

BioWare is arguably the most consistent development studio in the industry -- only Valve and, fittingly, Blizzard run it close -- and the popularity of Star Wars simply isn't up for debate, but the success of The Old Republic is far from guaranteed. One thing's for sure: if BioWare, Star Wars and $100 million isn't enough to crack the MMO market, it will be a long time before a major publisher tries again.

There's an excellent chance you've never heard of thatgamecompany. The California-based independent studio shot to fame with two PlayStation Network games, flOw and Flower -- ethereal, meditative games that reject traditional concepts like winning, losing and difficulty for something more profound.