OtherSide Entertainment announced today that Underworld Ascension, the project they teased us with back in the summer of 2014, has been renamed to Underworld Ascendant (and they’ve launched a new website for it, as well). About the game, Paul Neurath writes:

I started OtherSide Entertainment an indie studio to rekindle [the Underworld series]. Joining me is an incredible team of developers, who will be introducing themselves over the coming weeks. Some worked with me on the original Underworlds, along with Looking Glass favorites like System Shock and Thief. Others contributed to more recent classics including Deus Ex and BioShock Infinite. We have deep understanding of the genre, and share a passion for bringing Underworld back.

The newest incarnation of the franchise, Underworld Ascendant, will retain the distinctive fantasy RPG gameplay of the originals. We already have an early prototype running on the PC. At that same time we will be pushing forward with new innovations — I can’t wait to tell you more about what we have planned!

And yes, there will be a Kickstarter, and possibly a content crowdsourcing effort as well:

But this can only happen with your help. As an indie studio, we are looking to our fans to fund a significant portion of the development through our upcoming Kickstarter campaign, which begins on February 4th. We aren’t shy about our ambitions to make a great game, but that takes serious resources and effort.

Beyond funding, we are inviting you in on the making of Underworld Ascendant. Rarely have fans been able to participate in the often unpredictable, sometimes messy creative process that gives birth to innovative games. We hope you’ll join us on this adventure!

What is more, they’ve released two pieces of concept art for the game:

Elves are something new, but surely we all remember the Mountain-Folk from Ultima Underworld? And the character classes look…well, typical of the fantasy genre, although OtherSide Entertainment have captioned that image thusly:

Choose your character to play from a range of fantasy archtypes, or craft your own.

As well, those of you who don’t block absolutely every script and plugin on websites that you visit will notice that you are greeted by the strains of a deep, brooding tune upon visiting the new Underworld Ascendant website. At least based on the filename of the track, this music would appear to be the theme song of the game.

The game has also received a fair bit of press coverage today. Via IGN, we learn a few details about the team that will be working on Underworld Ascendant, including one part-time member whose name should be well-known to all here:

Otherside comprises 12 people. Some of them worked on the aforementioned titles at Looking Glass, the development studio that closed in May of 2000, so there’s a lot of veteran talent working on the RPG. One name in particular will draw recognition from fans of Epic Mickey, Deus Ex and Thief: Warren Spector.

He worked as a producer on the original Ultima Underworld, and championed the game from its inception. Now, he’s serving as a “part-time creative advisor,” Neurath says, and Spector sees potential in the project, despite its long absence from the spotlight.

“Working on the original Underworld project was important to me, career-wise, as well as to me as a gamer,” Spector told IGN. “Today, the world of gaming is different and, I’d argue, Underworld played a big, if under-appreciated role in that. There was a story and a level of player empowerment that most games –– even today –– can’t match.”

Via Gamespot, we learn what OtherSide’s Kickstarter goal is likely to be:

The team is looking for $1 million to make the project a reality.

And from MMORPG.com’s coverage of this announcement comes this morsel:

Something new with this title is that there will be three factions working for control in the game. Depending on the choices you make, you can side with one of these factions. This will change the outcome of the game as you journey through the adventure. Paul did not go into too much detail but wants to keep options open. Underworld is still going to be a classic RPG in a fantasy setting. He said that fantasy is a proven genre among fans. Even though there are a lot of these types of game out there, Paul said, “It really is about how you author it.” The player story in the game changes from each RPG even though you have familiar elements. With Underworld, combining classic fantasy with new ways to approach traps and monsters gives the player that minute to minute experience.

In working on the game now, Paul said that the graphics are just amazing. Things have come a long way since 1993. Paul still says that the major pillar really is game play. Graphics can only get you so far until people really want more. Players will start with a very lose version of a created character but build over time depending on their choices.

Finally, if you’re on Twitter, you should probably follow the #IAmTheAvatar hashtag; this seems to be the tag that OtherSide have adopted for use to promote the game. Which makes me wonder…could this indicate a connection to Shroud of the Avatar?

The First Age of Update: OtherSide Entertainment have clarified what their Kickstarter funding goals will actually be:

The $1M Kickstarter funding figure for Underworld Ascendant is what we hope to reach between our base funding AND initial stretch goals.

— OtherSide (@OtherSide_Games) January 22, 2015

The more you know!