Richard Garriott, the RPG videogame pioneer who gave the world the Ultima series over 30 years ago, has something to tell us in a little under three days (at time of writing).
Clearly the countdown at lordbritishpresents.com is designed to provoke speculation and who are we to disappoint.
The fact that the announcement is being made under Richard Garriott’s pseudonym from the canon of his fantasy realm of Britannia, in a font befitting a medieval theme, might suggest his Ultima IP. However Electronic Arts have held the rights since acquiring Origin Systems from Garriott in 1992. Garriott left Origin in 2000.
The MMO Ultima Online has been in operation since 1997 and has outlived Tabula Rasa, Richard Garriott’s subsequent foray into the online RPG market. However, since 2009, Lord British has been gathering his resources at Portalarium where he has been apparently working on a secretive project provisionally entitled Ultimate RPG, which is about as close as he can get to referencing his former works without actually mentioning the EA owned title.
Text from the Portalarium site current reads:
While your avatar’s journey in Britannia may have come to an end, Lord British and his team, many of whom have shared in the creation of these games for many many years, have begun work on a new adventure for you. It will be delivered first on PC platforms, with tablet play as a goal for the future. The genesis of the new world will begin small, and grow with player participation and input. We look forward to sharing more details with you as they develop. Come join us in creation of the next Ultimate RPG!
This is most likely the focus of the impending announcement. The countdown will terminate on March 8th at 11am EST.
What do you think it will be?
