Electronic Arts' Ultima Online is promising to release the biggest and boldest update in over a decade. The game, which first released in 1997 and quickly became the first MMORPG to reach 100,000 subscribers, has kept audiences entertained for quite some time. While many old-school MMORPGs have died off, Ultima Online has managed to maintain an impressive level of popularity for a game that originally released over two decades ago. While it doesn't have quite the popularity of RuneScape, it still has managed to maintain a respectable player-base.
Ultima Online gave players a lot more freedom than other games did at the time. Character builds, while not overly complex, take a lot of thought and have a good amount of min-max potential for those who aspire to become the strongest in Brittania. Although it was eventually overshadowed by other games, Ultima Online has survived for a long time with a dedicated and engaged horde of players - and that number may soon grow even larger.
Massively Overpowered reports that Ultima Online will be dropping a big update soon to accompany another major move. The newsletter says the focus of Ultima Online's new update is on the future of Brittania - a future which will include bringing Ultima Online to the "largest audience ever." It's unclear what this means, but it's easy to guess what it could allude to. Recently, Electronic Arts, which owns Ultima Online, announced that the company would be partnering with Valve to market EA games on Steam. Developer Broadsword has been trying to bring Ultima Online to Steam for quite some time, but has been waiting for EA's approval - something that may have now come.
As for the update, developers are not revealing much, but the team says they are in the "early stages" of building what they describe as the "biggest and boldest endeavor in over a decade." While this doesn't tell players anything about what to expect, they can expect it to happen at some point during March of 2020. More information will likely be revealed leading up to the update's release.
If Ultima Online comes to Steam, this represents an opportunity for the game to climb in popularity among new audiences of gamers. Even by modern standards, Ultima Online has a lot to offer. A major update planned alongside a move which will surely increase the number of players exploring Brittania for the first time (or simply returning) could very well be exactly what EA's Ultima Online needs to push Runescape aside as the most popular old-school MMORPG.
Source: Massively Overpowered