Ultima creator Richard Garriott is reclaiming the series' rights from EA

Ultima remains one of PC gaming's seminal roleplaying series. Richard "Lord British" Garriott sold Origin Systems to Electronic Arts in 1992, and while titles such as Ultima Online followed, the franchise has largely been dormant under EA apart from experiments like Lord of Ultima and Ultima Forever.

Garriott told Inside Games' Brian Gaar that he has repeatedly tried to revive Ultima while the series was under EA. US copyright law allows creators to reclaim works after 35 years, and because he sold the rights in 1992 he can reclaim them in 2027. "And so, I have been waiting… finally, the time has come!" Garriott said.

He emphasized he is reclaiming the copyright, not the trademark, which EA still owns, so a game could not be titled simply "Ultima." Garriott suggested a slightly different name—"Lord British's Ultima"—and said, "Lord British's Ultima will regain all the copyrights of my original work.

United States

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