A Lost Chapter for the Myst Universe
Spokane-based studio Cyan Worlds nearly delivered the first brand-new Myst universe entry in two decades with a project codenamed Project Anglerfish, though the title ultimately never surfaced. The would-be release would have marked a return to original Myst storytelling after a long stretch defined almost entirely by reissues and remasters of the studio’s earlier catalog. A representative for Cyan acknowledged the unreleased effort, offering the measured remark: “We’re still proud of the work the team did.”
The Myst series helped define the first-person puzzle adventure when the original debuted in 1993 on Macintosh hardware and later arrived on 3DO, PlayStation, and various other platforms of its era. Its pre-rendered worlds, click-driven interfaces, and slow-burn environmental storytelling set a template that influenced everything from The 7th Guest to modern walking simulators. For longtime fans, any prospect of a brand-new entry in that universe carries weight well beyond a typical franchise revival.
Twenty Years of Looking Backward
Since releasing Myst V: End of Ages in 2005, Cyan has spent most of its energy reintroducing its classic games to new audiences rather than pushing forward with original stories. The first major step in that effort was a 2020 VR remake of the original Myst for Meta Quest headsets, which then expanded to consoles and PC the following year. In 2024, Cyan completed a full remake of Riven, the celebrated 1997 sequel, giving modern hardware its most thorough pass at the franchise to date.
That pattern of remakes made the prospect of a wholly new Myst adventure all the more notable. Project Anglerfish, had it shipped, would have broken a roughly two-decade drought of original Myst universe storytelling and signaled a clear shift in Cyan’s creative direction. Its shelving underscores how rare a genuinely new chapter in the series has become, even as the studio’s retro-oriented catalog continues to find fresh audiences on current platforms.
For retro gaming enthusiasts, the story is a reminder that some of the most influential series of the early CD-ROM era are still being actively stewarded by their original creators, even when projects do not always reach the finish line. More coverage of unreleased curiosities and modern revivals of classic software can be found in the RetroArcade news section.
Source: Time Extension