Mythic Entertainment (formerly BioWare Mythic, EA Mythic, Inc., and Interworld Productions) was a

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

in Fairfax, Virginia that was most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game '' Dark Age of Camelot''. Mythic was a prolific creator of

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

online games following its establishment in the mid-1990s. On May 29, 2014, Electronic Arts announced it would be "closing the EA Mythic location in Fairfax", effectively winding down all the studio's operations. Despite the studio's closure, ''Dark Age of Camelot'' will continue to be supported by ex-Mythic staff under a new studio, Broadsword, which is also responsible for maintaining Ultima Online. As of 2018, the name remains a registered trademark of EA.

History

Mythic originally evolved from two early Washington, DC (USA) area online game development companies. The first was Adventures Unlimited Software Inc. (AUSI), was founded in 1984 By Mark Jacobs when it launched ''Aradath'', a commercial online

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

which charged per month. AUSI later developed games for GEnie, creating an online version of ''

Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

'' with

Eric Raymond The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

in 1990, and ''

Dragon's Gate Dragon's Gate was an interactive, real time, text-based multi user online fantasy role-playing game, sometimes referred to as a MUD. It was one of the longest running pay-for-play online games in the world, it opened to the public in the sprin ...

'' in 1985, originally inspired by ''Aradath''. Mark Jacobs was the president of AUSI and other developers there would later work for Mythic. The other half of Mythic Entertainment was Interesting Systems, Inc., founded by Rob Denton,

Matt Firor Matt Firor is a video game producer and designer of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). He is best known for his involvement in games such as ''Dark Age of Camelot'' and ''The Elder Scrolls Online''. Biography Matt Firor's f ...

, Don Cambpell, and Roger Shropshire in Fairfax, VA, in 1990. Prior to the founding of Mythic Entertainment, ISI had developed one multi-user BBS text-based role-playing game called ''Tempest'', which was later renamed '' Darkness Falls''. ''Darkness Falls'' would later provide the codebase for ''Dark Age of Camelot''. Mythic Entertainment was officially formed in 1995 when AUSI (Mark Jacobs) and ISI (Rob Denton) joined together. Its original name was Interworld Productions, and in November 1997 the name was changed to Mythic Entertainment. Mythic made numerous online games in the mid and late 1990s, ranging from online action

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

s to online RPGs. Some titles include ''Silent Death Online'', '' Magestorm Millennium'', '' Darkness Falls: The Crusade'', ''

ID4 Online ''Independence Day'' (also promoted as ''ID4'') is a 1996 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. It stars an ensemble cast that consists of Will Smith, Bill ...

'', '' Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict'', and '' Splatterball''. In 2001, Mythic Entertainment released its first MMORPG, '' Dark Age of Camelot'', the game for which Mythic is best known.

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

purchased Mythic Entertainment and renamed the company EA Mythic on June 20, 2006. EA Mythic renamed themselves back to Mythic Entertainment on July 10, 2008. Mythic Entertainment released '' Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning'', its second MMORPG, on September 18, 2008. On June 24, 2009, it was announced that as part of EA's restructuring plan Mythic Entertainment and BioWare would come together under a new RPG/MMO division headed by BioWare General Manager Dr. Ray Muzyka. It was also revealed that the current General Manager and long-time Mythic boss Mark Jacobs had left EA on June 23, 2009 and would be replaced by Rob Denton. The company was then renamed to BioWare Mythic. On November 9, 2009, Mythic was part of a broader reduction in force throughout Electronic Arts. The number of employees released was not made public. In 2012, the studio was renamed back to Mythic Entertainment. This was confirmed in November 2012 on the ''Dark Age of Camelot'' website.

Mythic / Microsoft lawsuit

Mythic sued

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

in December 2003 for trademark infringement and unfair competition regarding the name of Microsoft's ''

Mythica ''Mythica'' was a never-released massively multiplayer online role-playing game (or "MMORPG") based on Norse mythology. It was under development by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) for Windows-running PCs until it was cancelled in early 2004. The game ...

'' MMORPG, which was in development at that time. On May 25, 2004, three months after the game was cancelled, Mythic announced that the case was settled and that Microsoft agreed to not use the ''Mythica'' name on new online video games and to not register it as a trademark. Also, as part of the deal, Microsoft gave all ''Mythica''-related trademarks and domain names to Mythic.

Corporate honors

Mythic has been listed on the Deloitte Technology 500 list of fastest growing (by revenue) technology companies in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

since 2002. In 2004 it ranked 106th with a 2,226% increase in revenue over the past five years.

Games

''Aliens Online''

'' Aliens Online'' was an online first-person shooter/action game based on the movie franchise where two teams of marines and aliens fought each other. The game was for the

GameStorm GameStorm was an online gaming service founded by Kesmai corporation in November 1997. It offered several online video games at a flat monthly fee of $10 per month, a relatively radical payment system in the age of pay-by-hour online gaming. Both ...

gaming service. The budget for the game was $450,000 USD.

''Darkness Falls: The Crusade''

''Darkness Falls: The Crusade'' was a fantasy

MUD A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

-style game which has been hosted by

America Online AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

, and Centropolis Entertainment. The game was a sequel to ''Darkness Falls'' that was offered on the AOL and Gamestorm gaming services. The game is in large part the intellectual concept behind ''Dark Age of Camelot''. This game is no longer available as of early 2006 along with all other games offered on the Mythic-Realms gaming center excluding ''Dragon's Gate''.

''Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict''

''Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict'' (1999) was a 3D action game developed by Mythic Entertainment, developed as a follow-up to

Magestorm ''Rolemaster: Magestorm'' (since 2001, ''Magestorm Millennium'') was an online-only first-person shooter using magical spells as weapons. It was developed in 1996 by Interworld Productions (later known as Mythic Entertainment). Gameplay It cent ...

, and which has been hosted by

Centropolis Entertainment Centropolis Entertainment is a German-American film production company founded in 1985 as Centropolis Film Productions by German film director Roland Emmerich and American film producer Dean Devlin. As of 2001, the company is a subsidiary of Das ...

and Mightygames. This game is no longer available as of early 2006 along with all other games offered on the Mythic-Realms gaming center excluding ''

''.

''Dark Age of Camelot''

Mythic started '' Dark Age of Camelot'' development in late 1999. The company invested developing the game, an amount more than double the sum used for all its previous games. ''Dark Age of Camelot'' was also the company's first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). ''Dark Age of Camelot'' development was led by Rob Denton, as lead programmer, and by

as Producer. Its support and development continues, in parallel with other EA Mythic projects, such as the 2005-announced '' Warhammer Online''. On February 5, 2014, Mythic co-founder Rob Denton started a new studio called Broadsword Games. On the same day, development of the game was transferred from Mythic to the new studio. As such, ''Dark Age of Camelot'' will continue to be supported after the closure of Mythic Entertainment.

''Imperator Online''

In 2002, Mythic announced it was working on a new title, a science-fiction themed MMO called ''Imperator Online''. This MMORPG based on an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

where the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

never fell, and advanced to be a space-traveling multi-planet Empire. Minor changes at important moments in Roman history create an extremely different timeline for Earth, leading to an interstellar Roman Republica and thousands of years of galactic

Pax Romana The Pax Romana (Latin for 'Roman peace') is a roughly 200-year-long timespan of Roman history which is periodization, identified as a period and as a golden age (metaphor), golden age of increased as well as sustained Imperial cult of ancient Rome ...

. However, the game's production was canceled in July 2005, when Mark Jacobs announced that they had acquired the Warhammer Online license from

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...

''Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning''

During the E3 trade show, on May 18, 2005, Mythic announced that it had licensed the ''Warhammer Fantasy'' IP and was starting to work on a new MMO, '' Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning''. This title was released on September 18, 2008. The game's last day of play was December 18, 2013.

List of games

References

External links

Official website
via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Official website for Broadsword Online Games
{{MUDs, state=collapsed BioWare Electronic Arts Companies based in Fairfax, Virginia Video game companies established in 1995 Video game companies disestablished in 2014 Defunct companies based in Virginia Defunct video game companies of the United States MUD organizations Video game development companies