RSSEA invites beta testers for Ultima Online expansion pack
By Tim Conneally | Published May 8, 2009, 11:21 AM
Electronic Arts' MMORPG-centric studio Mythic Entertainment, is now accepting applications for the closed beta of Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss, which will begin later this month.
Ultima Online is one of the most popular and longest-running massively multiplayer games in existence, which according to EA was the first of its kind to reach a subscriber base of more than 100,000 active users. Stygian Abyss focuses on Gargoyles, characters that have been central to the Ultima series since Ultima VI was released nearly 20 years ago for DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64.
This expansion pack will enter commercial availability later this summer as a download only; and as digital downloads move toward becoming the primary method of video game distribution, EA has enjoyed massive growth in that category. In the company's most recent earnings call, CFO Eric Brown noted the company's revenue through digital distribution had almost doubled against last year's to $80 million.
"Very rapidly the PC is becoming the largest gaming platform in the world, just not in a packaged-good product," Brown said.
To join the beta, testers must own the original Ultima Online software.
Wow, memories... Played Ultima IV like crazy back in the day. Loved it. Never got around to anything after IV or the "online" version...didn't have the time back then and to be honest, they didn't really look all that enticing to me.
Still nice to hear Lord British is still hanging around. :)
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|exp pack for a 10 year old game?
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|"Stygian Abyss focuses on Gargoyles, characters that have been central to the Ultima series since Ultima VI "
-Uh.... I remember dungeon diving in the Great Stygian Abyss to recover the Codex way back in Ultima IV.
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|But were there any Gargoyles?
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|You retrieved the Codex from the Great Stygian Abyss in Ultima IV, but at the time you did not know that you stole it from the Gargoyles. You did not find that out until Ultima VI when the Gargoyles came above ground in an attempt to retrieve it back. In the process you figured out a way to allow both Britannians and the Gargoyles to view the item when you sent it to the Void.
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