Richard "[Whichever title he's going by these days] British" Garriott has been to space. But whatever goes up must come down, and that includes rocketships. So now the legendary game designer/castle-owner is hoping to rekindle memories of a simpler time - you know, back when people were trying to assassinate him .
Garriott's certainly not keeping any secrets about his "spiritual successor" to Ultima Online. However, if all goes according to plan, that "spiritual" tag may get kicked to the wayside sooner rather than later.
"We've actually talked to Electronic Arts about [Garriott leading Ultima Online again]," Garriott told Eurogamer . "I would love to have access to the Ultima property. We've had discussions at very high levels with Electronic Arts about access to the property."
"We're in discussions with Electronic Arts even now about a possible marketing and distribution relationships and things of this nature."
That said, it's not all sunshine, butterflies, and Siege Perilous shards. Garriott acknowledged that there's "resistance" to the idea in certain parts of EA - especially where Garriott's involvement is concerned. He noted, however, that the Ultima name is ultimately a very small piece of the puzzle.
"What essentially makes an Ultima an Ultima is the principles of design," he said. "And I'm very confident that when players sit down with this new world they will very quickly recognise that, whether or not we end up doing any deal with Electronic Arts. This is clearly the spiritual successor of the Ultima series."
Interestingly, he added that the game will be free-to-play and - in all likelihood - rooted in an isometric perspective like the original UO. That, presumably, will also make it a fair bit easier to accomplish Garriott's goal of "[doing] the same game" across "download executable," browsers, mobile, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
So, are you head-explodingly thrilled at the prospect of having Ultima in your life again, or does that last bit make you want to grab your torchfork (pitchfork, torch, duct tape, etc) and storm Garriott's castle in real life?
