Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was founded on the 3rd of March 1983 in a garage in Houston, Texas. The founders were Richard Garriott, his brother Robert, their father Owen, and programmer Chuck Bueche. The immediate reason was practical: Richard had been unable to collect money owed to him by other publishers for his earlier games. Rather than fight those battles again, they built their own house.
The company's first release was Ultima III: Exodus, a title that carried real weight before Origin had even opened its doors. Ultima already had a reputation, and that reputation became a shield. When the video-game crash of 1983 wiped out console developers across North America, Origin survived because its games ran on computers, not consoles, and because players already trusted the Ultima name.
By 1992, Origin had sold more than 1.5 million software units worldwide. That same year, Electronic Arts acquired the company for $35 million in stock. Before agreeing, Origin had weighed an initial public offering.
The $35 million deal with Electronic Arts in September 1992 came with a complicated backstory. The two companies had previously clashed over EA's 1987 game Deathlord, a dispute that made the eventual merger all the more striking. At the time of the sale, Origin was generating about $13 million in annual revenue.
Life under EA's ownership brought rapid growth. By 1996, Origin had more than 300 employees, most of them organized into small, largely autonomous development teams. That structure reflected the company's studio culture: multiple projects running in parallel, each team accountable for its own work rather than funneled through a single command.
The autonomy did not last indefinitely. Electronic Arts eventually decided that Origin's future lay entirely in online games. That decision would shape the final chapter of the studio's existence, pushing it away from the disc-based releases that had made it famous and toward a single connected world.
In 1997, Origin released Ultima Online, one of the earliest graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing games ever made. The technical prototype for the game had been created by Ken Demarest, and Starr Long served as its director. Raph Koster joined as lead designer in 1995 and remained through 2003.
The game's success locked in EA's vision for the company. After Ultima IX: Ascension shipped in 1999, Electronic Arts decreed that Origin would become an online-only studio. No more single-player games. No more boxed titles in new genres.
Ultima IX's poor reception complicated that plan. EA cancelled every project in development: Ultima Online 2, Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online all disappeared. Richard Garriott left Origin in the wake of those cancellations and founded Destination Games in 2000. Starr Long and Robert Garriott co-founded the same company alongside him.
After Richard Garriott's departure, Origin continued to exist primarily as the steward of Ultima Online. The studio supported and expanded the game through several expansions, including Ultima Online: The Second Age in 1998, Renaissance in 2000, Third Dawn in 2001, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge in 2002, Age of Shadows in 2003, and Samurai Empire in 2004.
Origin also pursued a new direction with Ultima X: Odyssey, which was originally planned for release in 2004. That project was canceled before it reached players. The Longbow series of flight simulation games, developed at Origin under EA's Jane's Combat Simulations brand, had also ended earlier; Jane's A-10 was in development when EA canceled it in late 1998 and moved the team to other work.
In February 2004, Electronic Arts disbanded the studio entirely. From a garage in Houston in 1983 to a 300-person operation in Austin, Origin had spent two decades building some of the most influential games in the medium.
Chris Roberts joined Origin in 1988 and served as game designer and creative director through 1996. He created the Wing Commander series, which became one of Origin's defining franchises alongside Ultima. Strike Commander was another title he brought to life at the studio.
Wing Commander first appeared in 1990 and ran through numerous sequels and expansions. Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom arrived in 1996, and Wing Commander: Prophecy followed in 1997. Roberts left Origin before those later titles shipped, going on to co-found Digital Anvil, which Microsoft eventually acquired.
Paul Steed worked as a leading artist on the Wing Commander series from 1991 to 1995 before moving to id Software to work on the Quake series. Ken Demarest, who later built the Ultima Online prototype, also contributed code to Wing Commander during his years at the studio.
John Romero worked at Origin from 1987 to 1988, before he co-founded id Software. Warren Spector joined in 1989 and stayed until 1996. At Origin he produced Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, which was developed by Doug Church and Looking Glass Studios, along with its follow-up System Shock and Wings of Glory. He later managed Ion Storm's Austin office and created Deus Ex.
J. Allen Brack worked in QA from 1994 to 2000 and went on to Blizzard Entertainment. Tom Chilton served as lead designer from 2001 to 2003, leading work on Ultima Online: Age of Shadows, and also joined Blizzard. Denis Loubet, the first artist Origin ever hired, arrived in 1989 and stayed through 2002; he produced box cover paintings, manual illustrations, and cinematics across more than a decade of releases.
Britt Daniel worked as a sound designer in 1994 and afterward founded the rock band Spoon. Sheri Graner Ray, who worked as a writer and designer from 1993 to 1994, later founded Women in Games International. The density of future industry leaders who passed through Origin's Austin offices made the studio something of an unofficial training ground for the next generation of game developers, particularly in Texas.
Origin published its first titles in 1983 and continued releasing games every year through 2004. The catalog spans dozens of titles across platforms including Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Windows, Super NES, Sega CD, 3DO, PlayStation, and Game Boy.
Beyond Ultima and Wing Commander, Origin developed BioForge in 1995 under Ken Demarest's direction, the Crusader series starting with Crusader: No Remorse in 1995, the space simulation Wing Commander: Privateer in 1993, and the first-person RPG Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss in 1992. System Shock, produced by Warren Spector, shipped in 1994.
Many games never reached players. The canceled list includes Ultima Online 2, Privateer 3, Wing Commander VII, Harry Potter Online, a multiplayer expansion for Crusader: No Regret titled Crusader: No Survivors, and Worlds of Ultima: Arthurian Legends. The gap between what Origin built and what it almost built is itself a substantial catalog.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was Origin Systems founded and by whom?
Origin Systems was founded on the 3rd of March 1983 by Richard Garriott, his brother Robert Garriott, their father Owen Garriott, and programmer Chuck Bueche. The company started in the Garriott family's garage in Houston, Texas, after Richard had difficulty collecting royalties owed by other publishers.
Why did Electronic Arts acquire Origin Systems?
Electronic Arts acquired Origin Systems in September 1992 for $35 million in stock. At the time of the deal, Origin had about $13 million in annual revenue and had previously considered an initial public offering before agreeing to the acquisition.
What was Origin Systems best known for?
Origin Systems was best known for the Ultima role-playing game series and the Wing Commander space combat series. The company also released Ultima Online in 1997, one of the earliest graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing games.
When did Origin Systems close?
Electronic Arts disbanded Origin Systems in February 2004. The studio had shifted to an online-only focus after Ultima IX: Ascension in 1999, and continued supporting Ultima Online until its closure.
Which famous game developers worked at Origin Systems?
John Romero worked at Origin from 1987 to 1988 before co-founding id Software. Warren Spector worked there from 1989 to 1996 and later created Deus Ex at Ion Storm. Chris Roberts, creator of Wing Commander, worked at Origin from 1988 to 1996 and later founded Cloud Imperium Games.
What was Ultima Online and when did Origin Systems release it?
Ultima Online was one of the earliest graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Origin Systems released it in 1997. The technical prototype was created by Ken Demarest, and Starr Long directed the project.