A spokesperson for Wizards of the Coast has confirmed to ICv2 that the Star Wars Trading Card Game has been placed on 'indefinite hold.'  This affects all unreleased and future sets including the Rise of the Empire Expansion, which was originally supposed to be released in August.  WotC reportedly made the decision to put the Star Wars TCG on hold because interest in the game appeared to wane after a brief revival surrounding the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith last spring.

A WotC official put it this way to ICv2: 'It seems as if the fans' attention has shifted to the minis, so that's where we are putting our efforts.'  On November 11th WotC is releasing the giant Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker, a mammoth, pre-painted 'miniature' that is 17 inches long and 14 inches high.  The highly detailed model of the All-Terrain Armored Transport, which could function as a symbol of the robust performance of the Star Wars CMG, is actually in scale with the other Star Wars miniatures and has a suggested retail price of $49.99.

WotC acquired the Star Wars CCG license with much fanfare back in January of 2002 (see 'Wizards of the Coast Gets Star Wars CCG') and proceeded to produce its own version of the game, which had previously been a mainstay of Decipher's stable of collectible card games.  Decipher had made its Star Wars game, which it launched in 1995, one of the most successful licensed collectible card games.  With WotC's decision to put the Star Wars TCG on indefinite hold it does appear that an era is ending.