In the news:

June 1st, 2006

Over at Adventure Gamers, Uru Live made the Hype –o- Meter. Currently we are in 7th, but with your support I can’t wait for us to be #1!

Thank you for helping Uru Live get on the list

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Online game rising from the dead

May 18th, 2006

In a rare case of a dead game coming back to life, “Uru Live” is set to be resurrected.

The once-promising online multiplayer version of the hit “Uru: Ages Beyond Myst,” “Uru Live” was in beta and had already attracted a passionate and vocal (if small) following when its plug was pulled on Feb. 9, 2004. Exactly who made the call to squelch it was never entirely clear, but both the game’s publisher, Ubisoft, and its developer, Cyan Worlds, agreed that there weren’t enough financial resources to keep it going.

But GameTap, Turner Broadcasting’s game network, announced at last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo that it’s planning to relaunch “Uru Live” in conjunction with Cyan Worlds by the holidays. The Uru community is beside itself with excitement.

Read the Full CNET News Article here

Uru Live Press Release

May 8th, 2006

“URU LIVE” LIVES ON EXCLUSIVELY AT GAMETAP

Online, multiplayer version of blockbuster game resurfaces on GameTap, with real-time 3D and new episodic content

LOS ANGELES – E3 – (May 9, 2006) – “Uru Live” lives! GameTap, the broadband entertainment network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), is reviving the online foray of “Myst”, one of the most popular adventure series ever created. As part of GameTap’s bold new initiative, the “Uru Live” game and community will be available to GameTap subscribers later this year as part of their monthly subscription.

“Uru Live” is the online multiplayer version of “Uru: Ages Beyond Myst,” which was developed by Cyan Worlds. Extensively beta-tested in 2003, “Uru Live” spawned an avid community of players, many of whom have kept unofficial sites up and running ever since. With the advent of broadband gaming, there is a whole new medium and a ready audience for this revered title. Unlike its predecessors, the new worlds of “Uru Live” are dynamic and alive, making use of real-time 3D rather than still images to bring players together online to explore incredible new worlds. To keep “Uru Live” even more fresh and challenging, GameTap and Cyan will update the game with new episodic content on a regular basis.

“The epic journey to D’ni will begin anew this holiday season on GameTap,” said Stuart Snyder, GameTap’s General Manager. “We are bringing back ‘Uru Live’ with new episodes, intriguing new worlds to explore, and a host of fresh features. ‘Uru Live’ was ahead of its time, and now that technology has caught up with this visionary game, GameTap and Cyan are teaming up to bring it into the bold new world of broadband entertainment.”

“Uru Live” is part of the popular “Myst” series created by Rand and Robyn Miller. Selling more than 12 million units, it was the top-selling video game franchise of the 1990s. In fact, it is credited with creating a whole new genre of games, the first-person adventure-puzzle game.

“Uru Live” will join the more than 500 on-demand video games and 300 streaming video channels now available on GameTap.

To register for GameTap, visit www.gametap.com where you can sign up for the leading all-you-can-play-&-watch video game lifestyle broadband network for $9.95 per month. Go to www.gametap.com now and sign up for a free two-week offer.

About Cyan Worlds, Inc:

Cyan Worlds, Inc., located in Spokane, WA, is best know for Myst and Riven, which received numerous awards, critical acclaim and broad popularity, Cyan has been designing and building immersive interactive worlds since 1987. They currently employ over 40 designers, programmers and artists. For more information about Cyan Worlds, visit www.cyanworlds.com

About GameTap

GameTap delivers hundreds of the greatest games-on-demand plus original programming via a broadband-connected PC. To access GameTap, players securely download and install Turner-developed client software from www.gametap.com that acts as a gateway to the GameTap vault. Because games reside securely on the PC, not across a network, they act just as if they were still on the console or at the arcade. Fast response times, 3D effects, colors, and characters are all present and accounted for. New games and original programming will be added to the service each week. GameTap supports navigation and game play using keyboard and mouse, as well as most USB peripherals.

About Turner

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment products around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.

CONTACT:
Chase/Beth Gardiner/Misty Skedgell
Access Communications for GameTap TBS, Inc.
415-844-6289/917-522-3522 404-885-4396

Personal message from Rand Miller

May 8th, 2006

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.

- G. K. Chesterton

Fellow fans and adventure seekers,

Uru has been quite an adventure for us. After pouring everything we had into our vision back in 2002, Uru Live was abruptly cancelled. There have been several fits and starts since then - various attempts to keep the vision alive. The most notable was Until Uru - a continuation of Uru Live that put its future directly into the hands of the fans. The fans didn’t let us down.

Although the fans were able to bide their time in the ancient underground city and distant Ages, not much changed. There were huge expanses to explore and share, but the full vision of Uru Live was designed to be dynamic and changing - providing new story and places to explore all the time. Now, with some help from our forward thinking friends at Turner/GameTap, we’re pleased to announce that we’re ready to bring Uru Live back to life.

We have been furiously toiling behind the scenes to write some interesting new content that will make its way into Uru Live in the coming months. We’ve also been working on the nuts and bolts - rebuilding our software and servers to clean up bugs and lag and to provide a base for cutting-edge improvements in the future.

This new adventure is not without caveats. We’re smaller and leaner now. We have much more to do with fewer people to do it. But we’re trying to work smart to provide new content that provides fresh new adventure for everyone on a regular basis.

So here we go again into exciting unknown territory. Little did we know that the opening lines of Myst would be so prophetic.

Thanks so much for all of your encouragement and support,

Rand Miller