#ULTIMA ONLINE SHARDS SERIES#

His books provide valuable insight into what it is that makes Ultima Online tick. One of those players is Wes Locher, writer of Braving Britannia, a pair of books compiling the experiences and stories of UO players throughout the game’s history. To get a sense of what makes Ultima Online’s community tick, I contacted the current dev team at Broadsword, and some of the playerbase on Discord. As I mentioned in Part 1, however, what largely defines MMOs is their sense of community.

Ultima Online is a game running an engine that is essentially 25 years old, and it uses some very archaic design that is decades behind current trends - yet it endures. The games industry is an industry that revolves around tech and trends, and often, if a game isn’t using the latest graphics technology or isn’t part of a current genre trend, then its lifespan can be pretty short.

#ULTIMA ONLINE SHARDS SERIES#

One of the big questions I aim to answer in this series of articles is what it is that keeps these classic MMOs alive and kicking. While they stated that they do not provide any details of subscriber numbers (standard MMO industry policy), a short time in the various Ultima Online Discord channels is proof that there is still an active and vibrant player community. I reached out to Broadsword with a few questions about the state of Ultima Online in 2021. Yet it endures, and in some respects, has a richer and more diverse community than ever.

When so many other MMOs, even second and third generation ones, have shut down due to dwindling populations or financial problems, you would be forgiven for thinking that Ultima Online could disappear any day now.

They too continued to expand Ultima Online content, producing several content and map expansions, and supporting servers (known in Ultima Online parlance as “shards”) with regular in-game events. The development team switched again in 2014, this time to newly founded EA studio Broadsword. Mythic didn’t just sit on the title and do nothing - they continued to develop and expand the game, releasing the Kingdom Reborn client with updated graphics and later, the Stygian Abyss expansion that added new zones, mechanics and a new map. Ultima Online was one of many MMOs being trampled by Blizzard’s behemoth. According to, by 2008, Ultima Online’s market share was less than 0.6% (around 100,000 players), compared with World of Warcraft’s 62%. In 2006, EA handed development responsibility over to Dark Age of Camelot developer Mythic Entertainment. Electronic Arts had closed Origin Systems in February 2004, leaving Ultima Online without a developer. What is certain, however, is that by the time the third generation of MMOs began in 2004 (most notably with World of Warcraft), Ultima Online was experiencing a steady decline. Slate reported in 2003 that Ultima Online still maintained 225,000 subscribers, but reported numbers are scarce after that. As the core business of MMO games is to provide vast, vibrant and populated worlds, specific player numbers are often difficult to come by, particularly when an MMO game is past its prime.

Ultima online shards