Game designer, astronaut, and Texan castle owner Richard Garriott has revealed that he intends to take back control over Ultima, the classic RPG series he sold to EA in the ’90s. In a statement delivered to Inside Games, Garriott expressed frustration with EA’s stewardship of the series, and said he intends to retake the series as soon as next year. However, he does not intend to purchase Ultima off EA outright, instead making use of a copyright quirk.
Inside Games reached out to Garriott after spotting that EA filed multiple new trademarks regarding Ultima. His response didn’t clarify what EA’s purpose for those trademarks are, just that there had been several false starts to revive the series, which hasn’t had a mainline entry since 1999. “Every decade or so, I tried to work with EA on a revival of Ultima,” Garriott tells Inside Games. “They always seemed interested enough to start talking, then abandon talks just as quickly.”
Frustrated by the holding patterns, Garriott expressed that he intends to retake the series that made him a fortune without having to spend one. Since he sold his studio, Origin Systems, to EA all the way back in 1992, an obscure copyright law dictates that the original creator is allowed to reclaim the work after 35 years. However, the key word is copyright. EA would still retain the trademark to Ultima, meaning Garriott would be able to make an Ultima game but would have to brand it distinctively from EA’s property.
It’s an eccentric play to make, but then again Garriott is nothing if not eccentric. The Ultima series was one of the earliest and most enduring computer gaming hits from the late ‘70s through the ‘90s. Ultima II was published by Sierra, but by the third game Garriott opted to form his own label in 1983, Origin Systems. In 1992 EA would purchase Origin from Garriott to the tune of $30 million, money he would put towards hobbyist space travel, building a medieval fortress outside of Austin, and having six figures stolen by a magician.
The guy who goes by the name “Lord British” is, in short, a character. He hasn’t clarified what EA’s trademarks refer to or what a future Ultima would be. He suggests fans pop by his upcoming appearance at Dragon Con in Atlanta; by then he says he’ll “hope to have more thoughts together about what that will actually mean.”