We still don't have an official date for the local Australian launch of one of 2011's biggest games -- BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic -- but if importing a copy yourself from an overseas retailer wasn't an appealing option, everyone's favourite brick and mortar games store has noticed the demand and is getting in on the action, now selling grey imported boxed copies of the game at your nearest outlet.

Kotaku have had a chat with reps from EB as well as NSW fair trading to sniff out any potential pitfalls of buying the game this way, and concluded that any minimal risks there may be are the responsibility of EB Games.

According to NSW Fair Trading, this doesn’t just apply to issues where the game’s key doesn’t work. If consumers are having online issues, such as lag from playing on overseas servers, the retailer still has to provide a refund if the consumer isn’t satisfied.

EB, however, seems to have accepted this responsibility. EB is informing consumers who purchase Star Wars: The Old Republic that the game is an import version, and claims that any issues players have will be resolved quickly and effectively.

Of course that responsibility comes at a price and these imported box copies are currently selling for AU$78 -- making importing yourself from Amazon or purchasing a key from the myriad online sites still the most frugal option -- but at least this time, the higher local price is somewhat justified.

For more info on Star Wars: The Old Republic, swing by our in-depth review or drop in on this forum thread to hook up with the AG SWTOR community.