Spokane company revives virtual world of Myst Online
Rand Miller, CEO of Cyan Worlds, photographed in 2006, says his company turned on the servers for Myst Online on Monday, Feb. 8, 2010. (Christopher Anderson / The Spokesman-Review)
Spokane game company Cyan Worlds has revived its popular, but financially unsuccessful online world, Myst Online.
On a company blog, Cyan Worlds CEO Rand Miller said the company decided to switch on the vast, rich underground scenario that allows fans to explore and meet other players.
Also known as Uru, the game has twice been an unsuccessful commercial venture. But Miller and Cyan Worlds have retained all publishing rights.
The unexpected revival of the 3-D world has been greeted by its fans as a major social event.
A message also posted at mystonline.com suggests fans can donate through PayPal to help defray the costs of operation.
Uru has been dark since mid-2008. It was launched in its second incarnation as a pay-as-you-play venture by Turner Entertainment and GameTap a year earlier.
It’s been dark ever since, until today.
Miller sent a note saying the current reawakening of Uru is not yet meant as a money-making effort.
“We’re quietly opening things up on a donation basis,” he wrote.
“We don’t have the resources to do anything but just run a server at this point, but it’ll be nice to hear footsteps in the cavern again.”