BioWare and EA Announce F2P Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar

Today, Mass Effect-developer BioWare announced a new free-to-play RPG: Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar. The game will be available for iPad and PC and will launch sometime later this year, and will include cross-platform play. What, no Android? C’mon, you jerks.

The new game will represent the next installment in the game universe created by real-life astronaut, Richard “Lord British” Garriott.

Dr. Ray Muzyka, BioWare’s co-founder and general manager of the studio, had this to say about the new game:

“There’s a fundamental shift underway in how gamers play and pay for games, and Electronic Arts is a leader in providing new business models and new ways to consume content. With Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar, we’re excited to give gamers the opportunity to play a high quality game with their friends anytime, anywhere, on both iPad and PC.”

As to any other salient details about the game, there aren’t too many. But interested gamers can sign up for the upcoming closed beta and watch the first gameplay trailer at its official website, which also has some brief class descriptions which—hey!—sound a lot like descriptions of classes in every other RPG you’ve ever played in your life.

Interested? Why or why not? ASSERT YOUR POSITION AND PROVE IT WITH EVIDENCE AND SPECIFIC EXAMPLES.