EA resurrects Ultima franchise

The digital aspirations of publisher EA have received another boost with the release of a brand new free-to-play browser title based on the legendary MMO IP Ultima Online.

Lord of Ultima, however, does not follow in the adventure footsteps of its predecessors. Instead, the game – which is currently in open beta – is a resource management title that’s reminiscent of classics such as The Settlers and Populous.

Its developer, EA Phenomic, was also the studio behind EA’s 2009 MMO card-trading RTS BattleForge.

When fully live the MMO is likely to be funded through microtransactions, as is the fashion amongst most modern browser-based titles, though no concrete details have been announced.

The Ultima series was the brainchild of legendary MMO developer Richard Garriott and has spawned many incarnations since its debut in the early ‘80s. It helped define the template of the modern adventure MMO, which over time eventually lead to the world-conquering World of Warcraft.

The beta sign-up page can be found here.