Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is coming to the Macintosh, according to Cyan Worlds founder Rand Miller. The news comes in an open letter to the Myst community regarding the fate of Uru: Live, a subscription based online world set in the Myst universe.
Miller’s open letter was ostensibly to announce the cancellation of Uru: Live, an online multiplayer game. But towards the end of his letter, Miller stated “And there’s more good news on inclusivity. I’m pleased to officially announce that the Mac version of Uru is finally under way.”
Myst is the legendary graphical adventure game that spread like wildfire on the Mac and later the PC more than a decade ago. The game told the story of two brothers who have abused a mystical power harnessed by their father that allows them to open portals to other worlds through the use of inscriptions in books. Myst’s use of detailed, pre-rendered 3D graphics and challenging puzzles made it the most popular computer game of its time, and spawned sequels like Riven, Myst III: Exile and RealMyst.
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is the latest installment in this long-running series. It’s a single-player adventure game already out for Windows that continues the story of the family of Atrus. This time, you follow Yeesha, his daughter, as you solve puzzles and discover the secrets of the D’ni, a lost civilization that once thrived below the surface of the Earth — the progenitors of the Art of Writing that provides its masters with the ability to link to “Ages,” or alternate worlds. Unlike the original Myst, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is a real-time 3D environment, so you don’t need to point, click and wait for a new perspective to appear.
It’s been no secret that Cyan Worlds had hoped to do a Mac version of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. The company had stated its interest in doing so, but had not actually committed to seeing the project done, citing the importance of its more lucrative PC gaming efforts as its priority.
It’s unclear from Miller’s announcement whether the game will be published by Ubi Soft Entertainment, the PC publisher that brought the Windows version of the game to market, or by a Mac game publisher. The most recent Ubi Soft titles to come to the Macintosh have been produced by Mac game companies like Aspyr Media and Feral Interactive. MacCentral will endeavor to bring more details as they are announced.