GameTap has announced that Myst Online: Uru Live will be shut down.
In a post on the official GameTape forums, GameTap Vice President of Content and Creative Director Ricardo Sanchez wrote, “GameTap has decided to discontinue the operation of Myst Online: Uru Live. The decision was a very difficult one and was made for business reasons rather than due to any issues regarding the design and vision of the amazing world that Cyan Worlds and Rand Miller have brought to us.”
Sanchez added that the decision would not take effect for 60 days. “During that time, both newcomers and existing players can continue to experience the amazing world of Myst Online, explore the game’s many Ages, and interact with other players in the game and on the MystOnline.com website and forums.” The MystOnline.com website will also remain active after the closer of the game servers.
Myst Online: Uru Live is the multiplayer version of the 2003 title Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, which has experienced numerous tribulations since its release. Intended to include multiplayer options shortly after its release, the original Uru Live met with little interest and was canceled in February 2004. Fan communities took up the cause later in the year with Until Uru, which offered unofficial multiplayer support but no updates or new content. Cyan joined with GameTap in early 2006 to bring official support back in the form of Myst Online: Uru Live, which went live in February 2007.
“I know this is not the news fans of Myst Online wanted to hear. I want to thank all of you who have been extremely supportive of the game and made this grand experiment in an alternative MMO format so much fun. All of us at GameTap also want to thank you again for your tireless enthusiasm for the title,” Sanchez wrote.
“There has been a clamor for information about the status of season 2 for some time, and the reason we haven’t announced anything sooner is because we have literally been examining a wide variety of possibilities for maintaining the game, but in the end, we had to bring the exploration of the great cave to a close.”
