More info will be coming in many forms including a FAQ. But first, here's Rand's letter:

Bill Slease
Content Director
Cyan Worlds, Inc.

Uru Live fans and friends,

Thank you so much for your continued support of the worlds that are Myst and Uru. It has truly been wonderful immersing ourselves along with you in the ongoing adventure, following your comments - good and bad - as you explored Uru Live.

I have some good news and some bad news.

First, the bad news...

Uru Live is being put to bed.

Even with all of the time, money, resources, code, people, sweat, and heart that were poured into Uru Live, we needed a certain number of subscribers to pay the bills. We didnÂ’t get there. Uru Live is innovative and unique; its online universe is one of the most beautiful and complex ever built, anywhere. The idea of ongoing content was dramatic and forward-looking, but it required a substantial continuing effort to sustain. We were just not able to sign up the number of subscribers (even for free) necessary to pay for that effort.

Now for the good news...

The soul of Uru Live will live larger.

The soul of Uru Live came in two parts: the community and the content. Both will live on. Nothing can kill the community - it has a life of its own. The Call and the Gathering of the community will continue. And the content - what can I say? We have it, large amounts of it, ready to expand the world of Uru. In the past weeks weÂ’ve been hard at work packaging that content in a different, more inclusive form - expansion packs - the first of which will be available in a month or two. Even better, the first expansion pack, To D'ni, is free. And thereÂ’s more good news on inclusivity. IÂ’m pleased to officially announce that the Mac version of Uru is finally under way.

It would be easy to focus on the negative aspects of this announcement. But weÂ’ve grieved our loss, and with clearer minds we see things in a different light. The fact is that the continuing Uru adventure is amazing. The story and places it reaches are spectacular. And in the long run, we want as many people as possible to experience and explore these new worlds. The closing of Uru Live actually gives us the opportunity to open these expanding worlds to a larger audience, including those people without broadband. Only a small portion of the people who played Uru ever made it to DÂ’ni in Uru Live. Now everyone can get to D'ni - and beyond.

Again, perhaps the ending has not yet been written.

Shorah,

Rand and the Cyan Worlds Team

Bill Slease
Content Director
Cyan Worlds, Inc.

Shorah, fellow explorers ~

Uru Live has been an incredible adventure for us. It is such a joy to work closely with the Uru community; first during the beta and now during the most recent exciting social groups starting to form, like the Greeters, the Echo, the D'LA, and so many others. It is awesome what creative and capable people can do, working together, to enrich and connect with each other. As we all embark upon the next stage of the Uru adventure and head to D'ni, we'll remember this creativity and connection, and looking for new ways to help The Myst Community thrive and grow in ever-evolving, amazing ways.

Thanks so much to all of you for making our jobs the most rewarding and enjoyable we've ever had! We hope to continue to share the journey with you by helping you build your dreams online together, for many Ages to come.

Gregory "Aloys" Champoux
Katie "Kha'tie" Postma
and Ron "randomos" Meiners,

The Uru Community Managers

~ Kha'tie!

[This message was edited by Guinevere4719 on Wed February 04 2004 at 03:16 PM.]

Update on the shutdown time:

The date is Monday Feb. 9th, and my best information is that the time will be 12 AM EST. If that changes I will update you as soon as possible.

Thanks all, again...



[This message was edited by Guinevere4719 on Mon February 09 2004 at 07:51 AM.]

If you still are not sure, the servers will shut down tonight (Monday night) at midnight EST.

That's Tuesday, 5 AM GMT.

Thanks.

~ Kha'tie
Uru Community Manager
Ubi.com