Today, online gaming is hardly something unique.
The fact that many live a parallel life, either in one of many large game worlds, on one of the social media platforms, or in Meta's "Metaverse", is not something that results in raised eyebrows either.
Milling modem
But 25 years ago was a different time.
In 1997, when Ultima Online was first released, we were in the midst of an era of beeping and hissing modems and busy phone lines.
A role-playing game played online, with or against the living people of other lives, was considerably more untrodden ground.
The experts: Historically significant game
The experts SVT has spoken to agree that the game was groundbreaking.
- For me, there was no online gaming before Ultima Online, says Max Collin, former games journalist at PC Gamer, among others.
- This was the first time ordinary people could step into such a large gaming world.
A lot of what World of Warcraft succeeded at is thanks to Ultima Online actually testing this, says Martin Lindell, game historian.
Gamereactor's editor-in-chief Petter Hegevall goes even further.
- I don't think World of Warcraft would exist today without Ultima Online.
"Tends to be forgotten"
Petter Hegevall thinks that the game tends to be forgotten, despite all it has done for its genre.
- When talking about gaming milestones, there are about ten games that are completely obvious.
Ultima Online is rarely mentioned in that, it is forgotten.
Despite the fact that it is in many ways as important as Super Mario Bros, Doom, Quake or Gran Turismo for example.
Saturday, September 24, the long-standing predecessor turned 25 years old.
What does the game look like today? SVT Nyheter's reporter logged in to see what it looks like and maybe get an interview with a player.