Turner Broadcasting’s GameTap broadband entertainment service will be launching Myst Online: Uru Live tomorrow, February 15, moving the Myst franchise, famous for its puzzles, mystery, and exploration, into the realm of massively multiplayer online gaming.
“Myst Online: Uru Live is the most ambitious Myst experience we’ve ever created,” says Rand Miller, CEO of Cyan Worlds and co-creator of Myst. “By developing an interactive, online world driven by intrigue and exploration instead of violence, massively multiplayer online gamers now have a choice unlike any of the other options.”
Myst is one of the gaming industry’s longest-running franchises, having first reached success as (arguably) the first break-out title of the multimedia CD-ROM era in the early 1990s. Myst Online aims to combine the games’ famous puzzle, mystery, and deep visual presentation with online storytelling and multiplayer adventure. In Myst Online, players will be able to create and customize their in-game avatars, explore all-new Ages, and face all-new challenging puzzles alone or with a group. Of course, players will also be able to engage in social text and voice chat as they explore the Myst universe as new Myst stories unfold.
“The evolving story line of Myst Online: Uru Live makes it an ideal addition to our GameTap Originals line-up of episodic games,” said Ricardo Sanchez, GameTap’s VP of content. “Also, thanks to our extensive catalog of more than 800 games, subscribers who might not have experienced the previous Myst titles are able to do so very easily and at no extra cost.”
Myst Online: Uru Live will initially be available to GameTap subscribers in the U.S. and Canada; the game will also be available via direct download in selected international markets. Right now, Myst Online: Uru Live is available for Windows XP; a Mac OS X version is in beta and due later in 2007. Players can sign up for GameTap for $.99 for the first month of play.
