Our Story
Greetings! I’m Jacob, the Founder of Ulti Studios! This story is about how I first found Minecraft and how Ulti Studios formed because of it.
First View Of Minecraft
My first encounter with Minecraft was back in 2013 when I was 9, seeing Disney World recreated in Minecraft on YouTube. I recall this as MCMagic, but it’s been so long now. When I got the game on the desktop later that year in September, I got addicted and enjoyed having a virtual world to do anything I could think of.
The first server I joined was a hunger games server in 2014 when I was also playing Minecraft mobile. Though the first desktop server I joined was named The Emerald Isle. That server had things like mini-games, roller coasters, and creative. The server is no longer running today, but it was loads of fun.
The Very Beginning
In 2016, I dreamed of having a server like the ones I played on, like Hypixel. When Christmas 2017 came after I turned 13, I received the gift of my own Minecraft server. I had to learn a lot by myself, even though I had friends helping me. But the server went through so many transformations.
We launched in 2018 and our player base wasn’t active. Looking back, it was because I was going too generic, since I didn’t have great ideas back then.
Starting Plugin Development
In the summer of 2019, after not getting an active player base, an old friend gave me the idea to do a game mode that’s known, but with a twist: KitPvP, but with four classes with unique abilities, kits, and bases. The player’s goal was to grow stronger, prestige, and be on top. We called this gamemode Ascension and the server AscensionMC. When I started with this new idea, I couldn’t afford to hire developers, so I had to recruit one for free to help. While I did have programming experience, I didn’t know how to code plugins, nor had the time to learn.
But in the end, I was left with a buggy product and an inactive developer. I was almost about to give up entirely. But later that year, I found MineAcademy.org, made by the developer of the well-known ChatControl. They were out to teach others how to code high-quality Minecraft plugins, help server owners accomplish having a successful Minecraft server, and put their ideas out there.
I was skeptical at first and was also a broke 15-year-old back then. But with enough financial help, I got into the program and began learning how to code plugins.
My First Plugin - UltraColor
In October 2020, I released my first public plugin because I thought it would be fun and a way to give back. It took off more than I thought. People have downloaded this plugin over 6,000 times today at the time of writing, and all reviews have five-stars.
While it was a chat and name coloring plugin, it brought much more like nicknames and gradients.
UltraColor is at SpigotMC.org.
Ulti Studios Is Born
At this stage, I was 18, nearing 19, and a senior in high school. After being part of the minecraft server business for over five years, I realized my younger life was near an end, and I wasn’t making much of any profit with the server business. Even after a relaunch of the 2019 server and merger with another server owner to try one last time.
College was near and I had to prepare. But I wasn’t ready to put minecraft plugin development on the shelf.
So after I left the server business in February 2023, Ulti Studios was born.
Conclusion
Now a decade later, I went through the journey of being a normal nine-year-old playing a digital game to running an organization to help server owners using the same game I grew to love. There were roadblocks over the past five years and I thought multiple times of giving up.
But the urge to give up turned into strength to turn my dreams into something more. That’s an essential factor in how Ulti Studios came to be.
But this is only the beginning. There is still more to come and I hope YOU will be part of it!
-Jacob
