Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar promises to be a "lovingly restored" version of the 1985 original that will be free to play on the PC and iPad, with cross-platform support allowing for cooperative play between the two platforms. Players will take over for a fighter or a mage on a quest retold with what the press release calls "trademark BioWare storytelling." We suppose this means a lot of dialogue choices, most of which lead to the same point via a slightly different route.

Development is being handled by BioWare Mythic, the team behind Dark Age of Camelot, but EA's Paul Barnett told Massively the game is not an MMO. He compared the title to single-player and small-group RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age, instead. As for monetization, the team plans to primarily sell vanity items like "golden galleons" and "bigger hot air balloons" to make up for giving away the basic game. "We don't keep poking you for cash; we just leave you alone," he said, no doubt to the relief of many.