2026-03-22 MADE collab, Website Launch, Non-Steam Logins
At the one month anniversary of BostonUnlocked, we have many major announcements! It's hard to believe how much progress has happened in such short a time but it proves that where there's a will, there's a way!
MADE Collaboration - Original Server Binaries Decompiled
ZiggyTheHamster, a volunteer at the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE) and the first person to decompile the original servers, has granted BostonUnlocked access to the MADE's authorised decompiled original server binaries. This has led to huge breakthroughs since our last announcement which you have already observed in the open alpha server. Areas such as AI and quest progression have reached extremely stable levels now after a massive overhaul by ShadowAid. We are continuing conversations with the MADE to see what opportunities there are for further collaboration. For this major breakthrough, big thanks to Ziggy, the MADE and ShadowAid - give them all some love!
Development continues, please continue to report bugs as you find them!
Detailed History with the MADE
After the game originally shut down, the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE) received permission from Microsoft after efforts from the game's developers to officially host a revival of the game server. Unfortunately, the original source code of the server binaries was lost and as the server used many proprietary libraries, it had to be reverse engineered and reimplemented. Furthermore, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) had to be cleaned up from the databases and logs which made distributing the binaries and data as-is impossible. This was a herculean task.
Many of you may remember ZiggyTheHamster, the first person to work on the server revival as part of the MADE. Ziggy successfully decompiled the original server binaries and worked on several other parts of the revival before the COVID pandemic hit and paused all projects at the MADE. The MADE itself went on hiatus during most of COVID and after it reopened, resuming the project proved a challenge due to several factors.
Over the years, several attempts were made to revive the game outside and within the MADE by others. One month ago, ShadowAid implemented the BostonUnlocked server entirely based off the game's client files without any access to the original server binaries. His approach achieved extraordinary results and within weeks we saw progress not achieved in years: the game was finally playable. There were limits to what the client's files allowed to reverse engineer however. The original server binaries held the answer to solving several issues like recreating the original AI.
After reaching out to Ziggy, we were given permission to use the decompiled original server binaries to advance BostonUnlocked. Since our last announcement, ShadowAid massively overhauled BostonUnlocked referencing these binaries and the server now feels so much more like the original. Please note that due to various reasons, the MADE's decompiled server binary repository currently remains access-restricted. We are continuing conversations with the MADE to see what opportunities there are for further collaboration.
Website Launched
We have a new website where you can easily find the information you need to play the game as well as read, follow and share these announcements off of the Discord server:
https://bostonunlocked.github.io/BostonUnlockedDocs/
P.S. You probably noticed the report bugs link above is already pointing to the relevant section of the website. Poke around and let us know what you think on the Community Discord.
Non-Steam Logins
The day is finally here: non-Steam game logins are supported! Check the website for how to proceed.
Special thanks
As we continue on the journey to revive this game, we'd like to thank some members in particular:
- ShadowAid - The developer of BostonUnlocked, without whom none of this would be happening
- ZiggyTheHamster and the MADE - For decompiling the original server binaires, giving us permission to use the decompiled source code and being great to work with
- Streetsam_ Crunch - Our loremaster, tester and for the good vibes across the community
- dyuom - For organizing the community, helping with documentation and early testing
- noogidoshan - For extensive testing and raising the most issues on GitHub since the project started
- Every player of BostonUnlocked who has tested and reported bugs in the server, provided suggestions and helped advance the project
Let's continue moving forward and fully revive the game!
2026-03-23 Steam Discussion Thread Minor Update
Hoi Chummers! We have an official Steam Discussion for the revived server now:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/267750/discussions/0/796713273232940271/
The website is still the main source of information about the server but hopefully the thread can help people find the revived game server 😃
https://bostonunlocked.github.io/BostonUnlockedDocs/
Note: A backup of the Steam post is available here