Electronic Arts brought 11 classic Ultima games to Steam on November 5, 2026. The release spans Ultima I through IX and both Ultima Underworld games, available separately or as a bundle.
Ultima on Steam offers a journey through nearly two decades of fantasy role-playing. Its adventures range from exploring kingdoms and dungeons to becoming a hero through choices, not just combat. These are ports of the classic games, rather than newly remade versions.
From a home-computer adventure to Britannia
Richard Garriott, also known as Lord British, created Ultima. The first game arrived in 1981, at the beginning of a series built around travel, discovery and fantasy worlds. Players explore unfamiliar places, talk with their inhabitants, learn spells and face threats along the way.
In 1983, Richard and his brother Robert founded Origin Systems. Ultima III: Exodus became the studio’s first published game. Origin joined Electronic Arts in 1992, while Ultima continued to expand.
The series developed around Britannia, the kingdom of Lord British, and the figure of the Avatar. Its history also runs through changes in how players see and explore a game world. The numbered adventures and the first-person Underworld games offer different ways into that world.
Ultima IV and the meaning of being a hero
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, released in 1985, gave the series a different kind of goal. The journey through Britannia centers on becoming the Avatar, an example of virtue. Conversations, magic and battles remain part of the adventure, but defeating an enemy is no longer its whole purpose.
Eight virtues shape that quest: honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and humility. They turn the idea of a hero into a question of conduct as well as strength. The adventure asks what kind of person the player’s character becomes along the way.
Garriott later explained that he wanted to move beyond the familiar task of defeating a villain. His aim was to make players reflect on their own choices. That focus on ethics gives Ultima IV a place in the series that goes beyond its age or graphics.
Mystery, exploration and the later adventures
Ultima VII takes the Avatar back to a Britannia troubled by strange events. At the heart of its mystery is an organization called the Fellowship. Detailed settings, branching conversations and combat give the adventure several ways to unfold.
The Complete Edition contains two adventures: The Black Gate and Serpent Isle. It also includes their expansions, The Forge of Virtue and The Silver Seed. One entry in the Steam bundle therefore holds more than a single game’s main story.
Meanwhile, Ultima Underworld changes the viewpoint. Instead of looking down on a landscape, players explore a dungeon from their character’s perspective. The first game begins with an accusation of kidnapping and a journey into the Stygian Abyss to uncover what happened.
Its dungeon is a place for conversation and exploration as well as fighting. Players can cast spells, adjust the force of an attack and add notes to a map that tracks their location. Those details make the surroundings something to investigate, rather than simply a route to the next battle.
The numbered series reaches Ultima IX: Ascension in 1999. It brings together the Avatar, Lord British and the Guardian for the closing entry in that main single-player run. The bundle thus stretches from the early home-computer adventures to the end of the 1990s.
Ultima Online follows a separate path and is not included in this bundle. It is a shared world where players can craft equipment, build homes and sail ships alongside other people. The games in the Steam collection are single-player adventures.
What the Ultima on Steam bundle includes
The Ultima bundle on Steam contains the following 11 products. It combines the nine numbered entries with the two Underworld games. The table identifies the edition included for each entry.
| Game | Subtitle or edition |
|---|---|
| Ultima I | The First Age of Darkness |
| Ultima II | The Revenge of the Enchantress |
| Ultima III | Exodus |
| Ultima IV | Quest of the Avatar |
| Ultima V | Warriors of Destiny |
| Ultima VI | The False Prophet |
| Ultima VII | The Complete Edition |
| Ultima VIII | Gold Edition |
| Ultima IX | Ascension |
| Ultima Underworld I | |
| Ultima Underworld II |
Source: Steam bundle listing
Data as of: 2026-11-06
The bundle combines nine numbered entries with two Underworld games.
Ultima on Steam, EA and GOG
The games are also available through EA’s Ultima catalog and GOG’s Ultima collection. Steam is a new storefront for these adventures, not the date they were first made. Ultima VII, for example, originally arrived in 1992.
These releases preserve the classic games. EA’s launch also includes restored editions of other titles, but Ultima belongs to the group of ports. Buyers should not expect the upgraded films or other changes announced for those separate releases.
The manuals and maps are worth keeping beside the game. Several GOG editions include digital copies, along with reference cards and other documents. They provide help with the worlds and their rules, especially for someone approaching the series for the first time.
Those materials also belong to Ultima’s history. Garriott described maps, objects and writing from within the fiction as a way to make Britannia feel like a place. The documents were part of entering that world, not just instructions for running the software.
Language support and included extras vary between games and editions, so the individual listings remain useful before buying. EA’s launch promotion on Steam and GOG runs through November 19, 2026.
Sources: EA launch announcement, Steam bundle, EA series catalog, GOG catalog, Richard Garriott, Garriott writings via Bootstrike, Operation Rainfall interview
