The once immensely popular Ultima series of RPG's has been relatively dormant for some time. The ancient Ultima Online (one of the very first MMORPG's) is still kicking, and still receiving updates, and Electronic Arts did release the social/strategy browser game Lords of Ultima back in 2010. Otherwise however, there has been little questing done in the lands of Lord British for well over a decade.
BioWare Mythic is set to change all that, and hopes to revive the Ultima magic for a new generation of fans, while re-engaging those who long ago gave up on ever seeing the series return to prominence. They're developing a new Ultima game titled Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar, which will see release for the PC and iPad.
"As huge fans of the Ultima franchise, the team at BioWare Mythic is not only excited to be able to bring this reimagining of the original rich world to the fans of the classic RPGs, but also to introduce a new generation of gamers who have never had a chance to discover why this is one of our industry's most beloved worlds," stated Eugene Evans, studio GM at BioWare Mythic.
Interestingly, the game will be free to play, using Electronic Arts' Play4Free system, which currently includes the online games Need for Speed World, Battleforge, and Battlefield Heroes, among others.
There aren't many details on the game released yet, other than the fact it will be an 'action-RPG', and will be a spiritual remake of Ultima 4 (with which it shares subtitles). There will be some form of both single-player and multi-player modes, and cross platform functioning between both versions of the game. The game will likely include some form of cash shop to generate revenue, or possibly even in-game ads (which would most certainly be out of place in Britannia).
If you're interested in getting a sneak peek at the game, and perhaps even helping mould it into a shapely masterpiece of modern roleplaying, you can sign up to be a beta tester for the game here.
Ultima Forever is set to be released later this year.
