EA issues cease and desist on Ultima IV fan projects
EA has issues a cease and desist order to fan site Ultima Aiera, informing the site and others hosting Ultima IV, as well as Flash-based remakes, to pull any files pertaining to it.
Both the Master System 8 and Phi Psi Software remakes of Ultima IV have been taken down, and both Aiera and xu4 complied with EA's letter and have taken down the direct download links for the PC version of the game.
Back in the 90s, the Origin Systems game designed by Richard Garriott was released for free via official sources, but apparently, the game was not actual freeware as some believed. When EA purchased Origin Systems in 1992, it obtained the rights to the Ultima franchise.
While EA has pretty much let folks create and share unhindered for over a decade, the sudden DMCA issued to various sites have folks wondering if it is due to the secret Mythic project the firm's creative director Paul Barnett has been tweeting about. Due to his various tweets, folks are assuming it is either an Ultima game, or an Ultima IV remake.
If so, then the cease and desist letters make perfect sense.
To add more kindling to the embers, EA games boss Frank Gibeau said last week that the company hasn’t forgotten about its dorment IPs, stating that he firm is "very cognisant," of its past, but of it were to bring older titles back "the game has got to be good."
Yesterday, it was revealed that EA was looking to hire an MMO Web Architect to work out of the firm’s Redwood City studio, which is making an unannounced "revolutionary MMO.”
So, it's quite possible an Ultima-related announcement is coming in the not-so-distant future.