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 in September 2002 in the United States. EA shut down Earth & Beyond on 22 September 2004. It was the last game developed by Westwood Studios.
History
Development for Earth and Beyond – originally designated as Project G – began in 1997. The finished game was launched on September 24 the same year. 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 called the V'rix. 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.
Reception
At the time of its release, the game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. It was a runner-up for GameSpots 2002 "Most Disappointing Game on PC" award, losing to Civilization III: Play the World.