Diablo launches, from Blizzard. Though not a true MUD, it is immensely popular and brings awareness of graphical multiplayer RPGs to the masses.
UO launches commercially and breaks 100,000 users very quickly. Rich Vogel joins Origin before launch.
Janet Murray's Hamlet on the Holodeck is published.
Second Nature Interactive discovers that its name is taken and renames itself Turbine Entertainment Software.
A development deal is signed for AC , to be developed by Turbine. Jeremy Gaffney is among those involved, though he later leaves before it ships. Toby Ragaini is principal designer.
NCSoft launches Lineage .
NWN on AOL was shut down on July 19, 1997, when AOL made the official switch to WorldPlay (formerly INN) for the Games Channel.
Mythic releases Darkness Falls , a commercial text MUD.
In September, UOX, the first UO server emulator, manages two simultaneous connections with UOX3. By 2000, there would be several hundred UO server emulators running.
