Cyan Worlds’
Myst Online: Uru Live will become an open source title, allowing users to modify the game’s code and assets however they wish and to run their own servers.
Myst Online began life as the multiplayer component of
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, but never progressed beyond beta testing with original publisher Ubisoft. Turner's subscription gaming service GameTap was the next to pick up the title,
officially launching it in February 2007.
The game lasted a year with GameTap, and was then
closed down for "business reasons"in April of this year. Cyan was able to
acquire the rights to the game, and planned to resurrect it on its own servers with new content. However, this plan was abandoned in October after a major revenue stream was "disrupted".
Now, Cyan Worlds
CEO Tony Fryman confirms that "Cyan has decided to give make
MystOnline available to the fans by releasing the source code for the servers, client and tools for
MystOnline as an open source project."
"We will also host a data server with the data for
MystOnline. MORE [original emphasis] is still possible but only with the help from fans."
"This is a bit scary for Cyan because this is an area that we have never gone before, to let a product freely roam in the wild. But we've poured so much into
Uru Live, and it has touched so many, that we could not just let it wither and die," Fryman added.
"We still have hopes that someday we will be able to provide new content for
Uru Live, and/or work on the next
Uru Live."
According to Fryman, the open-source release will be accomplished in stages, with the first due "very quickly". Few other clues were given as to Cyan’s current projects, following the
layoff of around 50 employees in the wake of SouthPeak Interactive’s acquisition of Gamecock Media Group –- Cyan’s primary client.
Fryman did indicate that the developer was working on an iPod port of the original
Myst, but also insisted that the company would be concentrating only on new titles that are "fully funded".
