"Development on Ultima X: Odyssey Has Ended"
Electronic Arts has suspended development on Ultima X Odyssey, the massively multiplayer adventure set to continue the Ultima series. It's always something of a shock when a game is canceled after a large time and resource investment, but several factors may have hindered the game of late. The game's development had recently be transferred from the shuttered Origin Austin studio to EA Redwood Shores, and anticipated beta and release dates were slipping. The producer of the game had this to say.
Dear Ultima X: Odyssey community members,It's good to hear Ultima Online is still going strong, but how many games are they going to cancel to support it? They're working on an as-yet-unannounced Ultima Online spin-off already. Hopefully it'll actually be released someday.As of today, development on Ultima X: Odyssey has ended. We feel that Ultima Online is where we need to focus our online efforts and most of my team will be moving to the UO expansion pack, the UO live team, and an unannounced Ultima Online project. Development on UO will be greatly enhanced as we consolidate our resources behind that franchise.
This isn't an easy decision but it’s the right move for the future of all things Ultima, including the community and the team. We look forward to sharing our plans for the future of Ultima Online very soon.
I would like to thank all of the Ultima X: Odyssey supporters who have been with us from the beginning. I hope you will continue to support the Ultima franchise and the development team as they transition to new projects.
Thank you,
David "InQWis" Yee, Producer, Ultima X: Odyssey
“With Ultima Online thriving, and with plans for its future taking shape, we made the decision to focus all our resources on that game world,” said Anthony Castoro, producer of Ultima Online. “We look forward to making more exciting announcements about Ultima Online very soon.”It's always sad when a game is canceled, but the Ultima franchise seems to be quite strong yet. I look forward to seeing what they plan to do. It's been only one year since they first announced Ultima X, and obviously, a lot can happen in a year.
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