Ultima Online announced that they were in internal testing of PunkBuster to prevent the troublesome in-game cheating. public test to start soon.

PunkBuster Testing in Progress, Public Beta Testing to Start Soon

Player cheating is a serious problem inside Ultima Online, as it is with all online role-playing games. It hurts the economy, gives players an unfair advantage in PvP, and puts honest players at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for resources, spawns and treasure. It’s no wonder the use of cheat programs is the number one complaint to customer service.

We hope to greatly reduce the use of cheat programs through the use of PunkBuster, the most recognized name in cheat protection. Used in virtually all triple-A shooters, Ultima Online will be one of the first MMOs to use PunkBuster technology.

We are in an internal test phase right now and almost ready to roll out a public beta test. We expect public testing to start in mid-July. So far, we are extremely pleased with the results and expect PunkBuster to work with Ultima Online transparently, unless of course you’re using a banned cheat program.

For more info, check out the FAQ HERE

If we do decide to use PunkBuster service-wide, you’ll need to agree to the PunkBuster Software License Agreement before playing, as well as new Ultima Online Terms of Service. You can read both documents HERE

Thanks, Darkscribe