BT signs MUD contract

The announcement follows the signing of a licensing deal with Multi User Entertainment, the company formed recently,to market the multiplayer interactive adventure game and similar products.

Trevor Havelock, a project Manager with BT's New Information Services, said that "BT are going to publish MUD on our own computer for public access. "

The version of the game BT will be running is MUD 2, an advanced and expanded version of the game which has been running for free on the University of Essex's mainframe for the last four years and commercially on Compunet since the beginning of this year.

BT's MUD will run on a VAX minicomputer between 6.00 pm and 8.00 am, beginning in September. It will cost about £2.00 per hour to play, although there may be discounts for credits bought in bulk.

Trevor Havelock said that the acquisition of the rights to MUD was a logical step. "When BT launched Firebird, there were a number of people who asked what the hell we were doing playing games, and they will probably say the same when they hear about MUD - but it will have no effect on the telephone services, and it will increase BT's profitability. We have a large number of computers which are not used outside the business day at present."