Earth & Beyond
| Earth & Beyond | |
|---|---|
PC Box art
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| Developer(s) | Westwood Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Producer(s) | Eric Wang |
| Designer(s) | Brett Sperry, Louis Castle |
| Artist(s) | Jerry O'Flaherty |
| Composer(s) | Frank Klepacki, Chance Thomas, David Arkenstone |
| Engine | W3D (Westwood 3D) engine |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Earth & Beyond was a science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The game was released on September 24, 2002 in the United States. EA shut down Earth & Beyond on September 22, 2004. It was the last game developed by Westwood Studios.
Development for Earth and Beyond began in 1997 and was originally designated as Project G. By 2001 Westwood had created content for over 100 sectors of playable space. Public Beta for the game began on March 9, 2002, allowing up to 100,000 new players to roam the sectors and test content. The finished game launched on September 24, 2002. It was initially shipped in limited quantities to retailers to allow for smooth experience as new players sign on to the servers. In January 2003, the main story line and accompanying events began. This required all players to download a patch and wait for servers to be upgraded. This was the first of regular monthly story driven updates designed to gradually change the game environment as the plot unfolded. In June that year, players met a new race - the Vrix. This was a substantial update to the online universe, adding many more missions for higher level players and improving the intelligence of all NPCs in the game.
On March 17, 2004, Electronic Arts announced that Earth and Beyond would be closing six months later on September 22 (known as the Earth and Beyond Sunset).
Earth & Beyond was set some time around 2575 AD. It featured three races: the Progen, Jenquai and Terran. The Progen were a genetically-altered and advanced race. The Jenquai were philosophers who sought eternal life. The Terrans were the original humans. Each of the three races had descended from the human race on Earth. The game's storyline took place in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Progen, Terran and Jenquai were all uneasy of each other, but still managed to live together in peace. The Terrans were known for their extremely large corporations, such as Infiniti Corp. and GetCo. Infiniti Corp. was the manufacturer of the inter-system and inter-sector warp gates. The warp gates were originally created by the mysterious Ancients, an enigmatic and hyper-advanced race who had all but disappeared.
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