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Origin Systems

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Origin Systems, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo game industry
FoundedMarch 4, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-03-04)
Defunct2004 (2004)
FateDisbanded
SuccessorPortalarium
HeadquartersAustin, Texas, U.S.
Key people
Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott (co-founders)
ProductsUltima series
Wing Commander series
Crusader series
Strike Commander
System Shock
Wings of Glory
ParentElectronic Arts
Websitewww.origin.ea.com (archived)

Origin Systems, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as OSI) was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, which was active from 1983 to 2004. It is most famous for the Ultima and Wing Commander series.

History

Brothers Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott, their father Owen, and Chuck Bueche founded Origin Systems in 1983 because of the trouble they had collecting money owed to Richard Garriott for his games released by other companies.[1][2] The company's first game was Ultima III: Exodus; because of Ultima's established reputation, Origin survived the video game crash that occurred that year. It published many non-Ultima games, and Richard Garriott claimed that he received the same royalty rate as other developers.[3]

By 1988 Origin had 15 developers in Austin, Texas, and 35 other employees in New Hampshire.[3] In September 1992, Electronic Arts acquired the company[4] for $35 million in stock, despite a dispute between the two companies over EA's 1987 game Deathlord. Origin, with about $13 million in annual revenue, stated that it had considered an Initial Public Offering before agreeing to the deal.[5] By 1996, Origin had expanded to more than 300 employees, most of whom were divided among small, largely autonomous development teams.[6] In 1997, Origin released one of the earliest graphical MMORPGs, Ultima Online. After this title, Electronic Arts decided that Origin would become an online-only company after the completion of Ultima IX in 1999. However, within a year's time, in part due to Ultima IX's poor reception,[7] EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including Ultima Online 2, Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online. Richard Garriott left Origin shortly after and founded Destination Games in 2000.

In later years, Origin mainly existed to support and expand Ultima Online and to develop further online games based on the Ultima franchise such as Ultima X: Odyssey, originally to be released in 2004 but later canceled. In February 2004, the studio was disbanded by Electronic Arts. The Longbow series of simulation games was developed at Origin and published under the "Jane's Combat Simulations" brand of Electronic Arts. A follow-on project, Jane's A-10, was under development when the project was canceled in late 1998 and the team moved to other projects.

Notable employees

The 1980s version of the Origin Systems logo
The 1990s version of the Origin Systems logo

Origin employed many young game developers over its tenure who have since gone on to leading roles in numerous game development companies, especially in Austin. Among its prominent employees were (alphabetically):

  • Aaron Martin - "Developer" (1990-1992) for gaming systems for multiple releases. Focused on assembly language and C++. Developed and ported 3D graphic engines, and interactive music systems to enhance, and provide next-gen gaming experiences. After, he went into "security" and decided to become an engineer and capitalist around the globe.
  • Andrew Sega - music composer (1995 - 1998)
    • aka Necros; was a Software Engineer/Composer who went on to work for Digital Anvil.
  • Britt Daniel - sound designer, composer (1994)
    • was a composer for numerous titles and went on to found the rock band Spoon.
  • Chris Roberts - game designer, creative director (1989 - 1996)
  • Denis Loubet - artist (1989 - 2002)
    • was the first artist Origin hired. He did many box cover paintings, manual illustrations, in-game art and animation, and cinematics.
  • Frank Roan - game designer, programmer, director, producer (1993-1998)
    • AI programmer on Wing 3, lead programmer on Wing 4, project director on Wing Prophecy, senior producer in Maverick group.
  • John Romero - programmer (1987-1988)
    • was shortly working for Origin before co-founding id Software.
  • Jason Templeman- programmer, game designer (1989-1995)
    • worked on "Savage Empire" and was lead programmer for "Strike Commander." He and Paul Isaac produced the 3D graphics system that Origin Systems used for the rest of its history. Jason later founded and presided The Logic Factory winning several awards.
  • Ken Demarest - game designer, programmer (1990-1995)
    • created the technical prototype for Ultima Online, directed Bioforge, led programming on Ultima VII and coded on Wing Commander.
  • M. A. "Al" Nelson - art department manager, AP (1991-1992)
  • Marten Davies - Director/VP Sales (1991-1994)
    • having founded the first UK games software publisher in the US. Firebird Licensees Inc. in 1985 and went on to Co found Digital Anvil with Chris Roberts and others.
  • Martin Galway - sound designer/composer, audio technician (1991-1994)
    • who went on to work at Digital Anvil.
  • Mike McShaffry - lead developer (1990-1997)
    • Later co-founded other Austin studios and has written and taught on game development theory.
  • Paul Isaac - lead programmer (1987-1997)
    • was technical lead on the Wing Commander and Strike Commander series. He later became a lead developer at Digital Anvil worked on Freelancer and more recently joined Certain Affinity as engineering lead.
  • Paul Steed - artist (1991-1995)
    • was a leading artist on the Wing Commander series and went on to serve as an art lead for id Software on the Quake series.
  • Raph Koster - lead designer (1995 - 2003)
  • Richard Tolar - programming (1997 - 1998)
    • was one of the Linux port team members.
  • Raymond Benson- writer, audio (1992-1993)
    • was head writer on Ultima VII: The Black Gate, contributed some writing to Ultima VII, Part Two—Serpent Isle, and went on to work as a game designer for MicroProse and Viacom New Media, then later became an official continuation author of the James Bond novels.
  • Richard Garriott - co-founder, game designer, programmer (1989 - 2000)
  • Rob Corell - programming, voice acting(1992-1995)
  • Robert Garriott - co-founder, business (1989 - 2000)
    • brother of Richard Garriott, cofounded Origin and Destination Games.
  • Sheri Graner Ray - writer, designer (1993-1994)
    • Went on to work with several major companies including Sony Online Entertainment and Cartoon Network. Also founder of Women in Games International.
  • Starr Long - QA lead, designer (1992 - 2000)
  • Brian White[disambiguation needed] - QA, artist (1995 - 1999)
    • was on the Felucca design team.
  • Tom Chilton - lead designer (2001-2003)
    • was lead designer on Ultima Online: Age of Shadows and went on to be a lead designer for Blizzard Entertainment.
  • Tony Zurovec - programmer, designer (1992-1996)
    • was the designer on Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret and worked on Ultima VIII: Pagan. He went on to work with the company Digital Anvil on Loose Cannon.
  • Warren Spector - producer (1989 - 1996)
  • Zack Booth Simpson - programmer (1992-1995)
    • was Origin's director of technology and research fellow and went on to co-found Titanic Entertainment and later became a pioneer of interactivity as a fine art with installations in museums around the world.
  • Eric "Maleki" Avila - Player Relations Manager (1995-2004)
    • Head Game Master for Ultima Online. Was responsible for live content and event coordinator program from 1997-2004. Left Origin to assume role of Customer Service Manager for Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft)

List of games

Developed and published

Ultima (series):

Wing Commander (series):

Games with single sequel:

Games without sequel:

Published

Canceled

References

  1. ^ Warren Spector interviewing Richard Garriott for his University of Texas Master Class in Video Games and Digital Media [1]
  2. ^ Durkee, David (Nov–Dec 1983). "Profiles in Programming / Lord British". Softline. p. 26. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b Ferrell, Keith (January 1989). "Dungeon Delving with Richard Garriott". Compute!. p. 16. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  4. ^ Varney, Allen (October 11, 2005). "The Conquest of Origin". The Escapist. Retrieved April 10, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Electronic Arts And Origin Pool Resources in "Ultimate" Acquisition". Computer Gaming World. November 1992. p. 176. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Origin". Next Generation (13). Imagine Media: 105–8. January 1996.
  7. ^ Interview with Richard Garriott, Executive Producer, NCSoft Austin

[emphasis added]

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