One of the very oldest graphical MMORPGs in the world has been on life support for a long time now. The Realm (also known as The Realm Online) began its run back in 1996 as a 2-D title that was published by Sierra On-Line. Since then, the game’s ownership has traded hands, but the title has endured. Unfortunately, the website and client have not received updates in years, and the entire game gives off the appearance of having fallen into disrepair.
It looks like The Realm’s fates are about to change, however. Owners Norseman Games have given “exclusive license and rights” to a private server team so that it can take over the MMO and bring it up to spec. This means that The Realm will be rebooted on June 1st with a new client, new server, more content, and become available for more platforms. Current server data, including player characters, will be ported over to the new version when it goes live.
The game’s current owners gave the project a hearty thumbs-up: “We at Norseman Games have complete confidence in the Rat Lab team’s ability to develop, implement, and bring The Realm Online back to satisfactory. It is our greatest hope that this arrangement provides the community what they’ve so long desired. See you on the flip side!”
