After years of development including at least one complete redesign, industry legend and astronaut Richard Garriott's space epic MMO Tabula Rasa has finally entered the closed beta testing stage, paving the way for a fall launch if all goes well. In a market fairly starved for quality sci-fi MMO titles (that aren't primarily ship based), this is very good news indeed.

"This is an exciting time for the Tabula Rasa team," says Garriott..."With closed beta testing now in progress, we're excited to hear more what our players think. With fast-action and tactical combat in an RPG setting, a deep and interesting fictional universe, and many feature innovations, we think we've created a game that represents the next generation of MMO games and will revolutionize the way people play online games."

Having been given an extensive preview of the game at GDC, I can certainly agree that there are plenty of innovative ideas in Tabula Rasa. Not sure I'd go as far as revolutionary, but more than enough to set it apart from the current crop of WoW clones. Why does fall have to be so far away?Michael Fahey

NCsoft Announces Closed Beta Testing for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa

Massively Multiplayer Online Computer Game from Legendary Designer Entering Final Stages of Development; Plans in Place for Fall Launch

Austin, Texas, May 2, 2007—NCsoft today announced that closed beta testing is beginning for the company's highly anticipated online computer game, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa . The start of closed beta marks the game's final development stages as Tabula Rasa approaches an anticipated launch this fall in North America and Europe.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) role playing PC game that places players in an epic sci-fi story where they will be challenged by dynamic and fast-paced adventures on alien worlds.

Garriott's signature creative vision introduces several fresh features to the MMO genre such as a character cloning system, role-playing on the battlefield and a mystical "Logos" language and powers system. They are the types of touches that players have come to expect over the years from a Richard Garriott game.

"This is an exciting time for the Tabula Rasa team," says Garriott, executive producer at NCsoft and the Austin, Texas-based Destination Games development team. "With closed beta testing now in progress, we're excited to hear more what our players think. With fast-action and tactical combat in an RPG setting, a deep and interesting fictional universe, and many feature innovations, we think we've created a game that represents the next generation of MMO games and will revolutionize the way people play online games."

Garriott is best known for creating the best-selling Ultima computer game series, including the first commercially successful MMO game, Ultima Online. In 2006, he was presented with two industry honors for his work in the games industry. That year Garriott was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and later was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

More details on Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa and closed beta testing for the game can be found at http://www.PlayTR.com. More information on NCsoft can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.