The Escapist has a write-up of John Smedley's talk at SOE Fan Faire 2011, where, among other things, the SOE CEO explains the closure of Star Wars Galaxies (thanks Ant via Slashdot). Here's the explanation:

"It was time to turn it off. We have a contractual relationship that's ending in 2012, The Old Republic launching, a bunch of other business things with LucasArts," Smedley said. "And then you look at the odds of a pretty large portion of the audience moving to TOR, which looks like a terrific game. I think that's going to be really well-received by the population." You can't deny Smedley's business sense there.