MMORPG cull continues as EA cancels Ultima X: Online

A spate of title cancellations in the massively multiplayer market has claimed its latest victim, with Electronic Arts ceasing development on Ultima X: Odyssey, only weeks after the project was moved to the Redwood Shores campus.

Project producer David Yee announced the demise of the title in a post on the official Ultima X website, which simply stated that "as of today, development on Ultima X: Odyssey has ended... This isn't an easy decision but it's the right move for the future of all things Ultima, including the community and the team."

No layoffs are expected as a result of the cancellation, with the team moving over to work on other Ultima projects such as a new Ultima Online expansion pack and a new, unannounced Ultima Online project.

Ultima X is, by our count, the fourth high-profile MMORPG title to be cancelled in the last six months. Last week, Climax and Games Workshop mutually agreed to cancel Warhammer Online, while earlier in June Microsoft announced that it had cancelled True Fantasy Live Online after several years in development. Back in February, Microsoft kicked off the current round of cancellations when it dropped another MMO title - the internally developed Mythica.

That such high profile publishers are pulling back from the MMORPG market is largely indicative of the extremely competitive nature of the marketplace, and a widespread perception that it may have very limited growth potential in the North American and European markets.

While titles such as EverQuest, Ultima Online and Final Fantasy XI have proved largely successful in the west (although the bulk of the FFXI subscriber base remains in Japan), and titles such as City of Heroes and World of Warcraft are shaping up to be major commercial successes, this remains arguably the toughest market in the industry for new products - especially given the huge resources required to develop and sustain an MMORPG title.

It all makes Interplay boss Herve Caen's pronouncement earlier this week - that the company hoped to dig itself out of its current financial difficulties by launch an MMORPG product based on the Fallout franchise - look even more incongrous than it already did. A cynic might suggest that Caen has no intention of developing a Fallout MMORPG, but is just trying to stir interest in the franchise after the dismal failure of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel in the hope of selling it off for a decent price, much as he has done with the bulk of Interplay's assets.