# Mythic Entertainment - House: Developer - Date: 1995–2014 - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/mythic-entertainment/ > A small Virginia online-games shop that turned Arthur, Celtic myth and Norse saga into three warring realms: Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot made realm-versus-realm war the heart of an MMO. **Why it matters:** Mythic bridged the dial-up online games of the 1980s and '90s and the graphical MMO boom, and its realm-versus-realm design in Dark Age of Camelot remains one of the genre's most admired answers to the problem of player-versus-player conflict. ## Quick answers **What was Mythic Entertainment?** A small Virginia online-games shop that turned Arthur, Celtic myth and Norse saga into three warring realms: Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot made realm-versus-realm war the heart of an MMO. **When was Mythic Entertainment founded?** Mythic Entertainment was founded in 1995 and was based in Fairfax, Virginia; it closed in 2014. **Who founded Mythic Entertainment?** Formed from Mark Jacobs's Adventures Unlimited Software (1984) and Interesting Systems (1990), founded by Rob Denton, Matt Firor, Don Campbell and Roger Shropshire. **What is Mythic Entertainment known for?** Dark Age of Camelot. **What happened to Mythic Entertainment?** Bought by Electronic Arts in June 2006; closed by EA in May 2014. Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online passed to Broadsword Online Games. ## History Mythic's roots lie in the era of pay-by-the-hour online services, when fantasy worlds lived on dial-up networks. Mark Jacobs had founded Adventures Unlimited Software in 1984 and made early online games for commercial networks; in 1990 Rob Denton, Matt Firor, Don Campbell and Roger Shropshire founded Interesting Systems. In 1995 the two merged as Interworld Productions in Fairfax, Virginia, and in November 1997 the company renamed itself Mythic Entertainment. Through the late 1990s Mythic survived on a string of modest online titles: *Aliens Online*, *Silent Death Online*, the fantasy game *Darkness Falls: The Crusade*, *Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict* and *Rolemaster: Magestorm*, a team battle game built on [Iron Crown](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/iron-crown-enterprises/)'s [Rolemaster](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/rolemaster/). These were small games, but they taught the studio how to run servers, bill players and, above all, design fights between teams. Watching [*Ultima Online*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/ultima-online/) and [*EverQuest*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/everquest/) turn the [MMORPGs](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/mmorpg/) into a business, Mythic bet the company on one of its own, beginning development in late 1999 on a budget that accounts put at between $2.5 million and $3.2 million, reportedly more than twice its spending on all its previous games combined. [*Dark Age of Camelot*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dark-age-of-camelot/) launched in North America in October 2001, published by Vivendi Universal Games, and in Europe in January 2002. Its success made Mythic a prize: [Electronic Arts](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/electronic-arts/) bought the studio in June 2006 and renamed it EA Mythic. ## Notable work *Dark Age of Camelot* divided its players among three realms drawn from three bodies of legend: Albion, from [Arthurian romance](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/arthurian-fantasy/) and [Malory](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/le-morte-darthur/); Hibernia, from Irish and Celtic myth; and Midgard, from Norse saga and [the Eddas](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-eddas/). Players leveled against monsters in their home lands, then crossed into shared frontier zones where the three realms fought over keeps and relics. This "realm versus realm" design channeled [player killing](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/player-killer/), which had nearly torn *Ultima Online* apart, into a structured war with a purpose, and made cooperation within a realm as important as combat between them. EA's money funded a larger ambition: *Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning*, set in [Games Workshop](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/games-workshop/)'s [Warhammer](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/warhammer-fantasy-battle/) world, released on September 18, 2008. It was launched into the shadow of [*World of Warcraft*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/world-of-warcraft/), lost players quickly, and closed on December 18, 2013, when the Games Workshop license ended. Mythic had also come to run *Ultima Online* by then, a quiet sign of how central it had become to EA's online operations. ## Legacy EA reshaped Mythic repeatedly. In June 2009 it merged the studio with [BioWare](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/bioware/) into an RPG and MMO group, and it was known as BioWare Mythic until 2012, when the old name returned. Mark Jacobs left in 2009. The studio's last years went to mobile work, including a free-to-play *Dungeon Keeper* remake that drew heavy criticism in 2014, and on May 29, 2014, EA announced it was closing Mythic's Fairfax office. The worlds survived the studio. Rob Denton founded Broadsword Online Games in 2014, which took over both *Dark Age of Camelot* and *Ultima Online* and has kept them running since. Matt Firor went on to lead ZeniMax Online Studios and [*The Elder Scrolls Online*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-elder-scrolls-online/), whose Cyrodiil campaigns were built on three-faction realm-versus-realm war, and Mark Jacobs returned with the crowdfunded *Camelot Unchained*. Few MMO studios have left a design idea so widely copied from so small an office. ## Facts - Mythic grew from two companies: Mark Jacobs's Adventures Unlimited Software, founded in 1984, and Interesting Systems, founded in 1990. - It began as Interworld Productions in 1995 and took the Mythic Entertainment name in November 1997. - Before its MMO it made smaller online games, among them Aliens Online, Silent Death Online, Darkness Falls and Rolemaster: Magestorm. - Development of [Dark Age of Camelot](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dark-age-of-camelot/) began in late 1999 on a budget put at $2.5–3.2 million by differing accounts, reportedly more than Mythic had spent on all its earlier games combined. - EA bought Mythic in June 2006; its Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning launched September 18, 2008, and shut down December 18, 2013. - Co-founder Matt Firor later led ZeniMax Online Studios, maker of [The Elder Scrolls Online](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-elder-scrolls-online/). ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythic_Entertainment) - [Dark Age of Camelot (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Age_of_Camelot) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.