Origin Systems, Inc. was an American
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
based in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...
and his brother
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres of video games, such as the ''
Ultima'' and ''
Wing Commander'' series. The company was purchased by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
in 1992.
History
Brothers
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...
and
Robert Garriott, their astronaut-engineer father
Owen
Owen may refer to:
Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin.
Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born.
Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
, and programmer
Chuck Bueche
Chuck Bueche (also known as Chuckles) is a video game programmer best known for co-founding Origin Systems and his involvement with the '' Ultima'' video game series.
Bueche was a high school friend and university roommate of Richard Garriott in A ...
founded Origin Systems in 1983 because of the trouble they had collecting money owed to Richard for his games released by other companies.
Origin was initially based in the Garriotts' garage in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
. The company's first game was ''
Ultima III: Exodus''; because of Ultima's established reputation and the fact that the company's games were released on computers and not consoles, Origin survived the
video-game crash of 1983 which affected console game developers in North America. It published many non-''Ultima'' games, and Richard Garriott claimed that he received the same royalty rate as other developers.
By 1988, Origin had 15 developers in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, and another 35 employees in New Hampshire. By 1989 they had 50 employees between their New Hampshire and Texas offices. By 1992, Origin Systems had sold more than software units worldwide.
In September 1992,
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
acquired the company
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
IPO before agreeing to the deal.
By 1996, Origin had expanded to more than 300 employees, most of whom were divided among small, largely autonomous development teams. In 1997, Origin released one of the earliest graphical
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
s, ''
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,
EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including ''
Ultima Online 2'', ''
Privateer Online'', and ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...
Online''. Richard Garriott left Origin shortly after and founded
Destination Games
Destination Games was an American computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. ("Destination" is a play on "Origin", the company the ...
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
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 by surname):
*
Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson (born September 6, 1955) is an American author best known for being the author of the James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973. In primary sc ...
– ''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
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization'' and '' X-COM'' series. Most of their in ...
and
Viacom New Media Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
, then later became an official continuation author of the ''
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
'' novels.
*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
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...
.
*
Britt Daniel
John Britt Daniel (born April 14, 1971) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Spoon, as well as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and singer of the band Divine Fits. Daniel also founded nume ...
– ''Sound Designer'' (1994)
**Was a sound designer for numerous titles and went on to found the rock band
Spoon
A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily f ...
.
*
Ken Demarest
Kenneth Llewellyn Demarest III is a computer game programmer, artist, and business person.
Early life and education
Career
Demarest worked on ''Wing Commander'' and developed 3D, texture-mapped characters in ''BioForge''. As a Director of Tec ...
– ''Game Designer, Programmer'' (1990–1995)
**Created the technical prototype for ''Ultima Online'', directed ''
BioForge
''BioForge'' is a 1995 action-adventure game developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS. Set in the future, the player controls an amnesiac cyborg trying to escape the research facility in which they are being held pris ...
'', led programming on ''Ultima VII: The Black Gate'' and coded on ''
Wing Commander''.
*
Martin Galway
Martin Galway (born 3 January 1966, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is one of the best known composers of chiptune video game music for the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. His works include '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'', '' Comic Bakery'' and ...
– ''Sound Designer/Composer, Audio Technician'' (1991–1994)
**Went on to work at
Digital Anvil
Digital Anvil, Inc. (formerly Digital Anvil Holdings, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas owned by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS). It was founded in 1996 by brothers Chris and Erin Roberts along with Tony Zurovec, Mar ...
.
*
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...
– ''Co-Founder, Game Designer, Programmer'' (1983–2000)
**Aka "Lord British", creator of ''
Ultima''; later co-founded
Destination Games
Destination Games was an American computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. ("Destination" is a play on "Origin", the company the ...
, acquired by
NCSoft. Co-founded and now works at
Portalarium.
*
Robert Garriott – ''Co-Founder, Business'' (1983–2000)
**Brother of Richard Garriott, co-founded Origin Systems and Destination Games.
*
Raph Koster – ''Lead Designer'' (1995–2003)
**Later joined
Sony Online Entertainment in Austin developing ''
EverQuest II'' and ''
Star Wars Galaxies''.
*Scott Kreuser – ''Supported the entire software roadmap''
**Went on to work for
Dell Computer
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data s ...
as a Worldwide New Product Project Manager.
*
Starr Long
Starr McAuley Long (born March 12, 1970) is an American game developer, a long time collaborator with Richard Garriott at the companies Origin Systems (1992–2000), Destination Games (2000–2008), and Portalarium (2013–present). In 1997, Long ...
– ''QA Lead, Designer'' (1992–2000)
**Director of ''Ultima Online'', and co-founder of Destination Games.
*
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.
*
Mike McShaffry – ''Lead Developer'' (1990–1997)
**Later co-founded the other Austin studios and has written and taught on
game development theory.
*
Sheri Graner Ray – ''Writer, Designer'' (1993–1994)
**Went on to work with several major companies including Sony Online Entertainment and
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
. Also founder of
Women in Games International.
*
Chris Roberts – ''Game Designer, Creative Director'' (1988–1996)
**Creator of the
''Wing Commander'' series and ''
Strike Commander
''Strike Commander'' is a combat flight simulation video game designed by Chris Roberts and released by Origin Systems for the PC DOS in 1993. Its 3D graphics-engine used both gouraud shading and texture-mapping on both aircraft-models and te ...
''. Co-founded the now-defunct Digital Anvil, acquired by
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
, creating ''
Starlancer
''Starlancer'' is a space-based science fiction flight simulator computer game, created by Erin and Chris Roberts, and developed by Warthog Games under the auspices of Digital Anvil.
Plot
It is the year 2160. Mankind has colonized the solar sy ...
'' and contributing to ''
Freelancer
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...
'' space simulator games. Went on to produce a number of Hollywood productions, before co-founding and now working at Cloud Imperium Games, creating the crowdfunded space simulator ''
Star Citizen''.
*
John Romero
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
– ''Programmer'' (1987–1988)
**Worked at Origin before co-founding
id Software
id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
. Later co-founded
Ion Storm and a number of other game studios. Co-founded and now works at
Romero Games
Romero Games Ltd. is an independent video game development studio that was established on 11 August 2015 by husband-and-wife team John Romero and Brenda Romero and is located in Galway, Ireland. This is the ninth game studio Romero has establ ...
.
*
Andrew Sega
Andrew Gregory Sega ( ; born May 20, 1975), also known as Necros, is an American musician best known for tracking modules in the 1990s demoscene as well as for composing music for several well-known video games. He was a member of the synthpo ...
– ''Music Composer'' (1995–1998)
**Aka Necros; was a Software Engineer/Composer who went on to work for Digital Anvil.
*Dallas Snell – ''Vice President of Product Development / Executive Producer'' (1985–1996)
**Head of Product Development, Producer or Executive Producer of Origin's titles between 1986 and 1995. Later served as Director of Business Development for NCSoft North America. Co-founded Portalarium and served as Director of Development and Chief Operating Officer.
*
Warren Spector
Warren Evan Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how ...
– ''Producer'' (1989–1996)
**Producer of ''
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' which was developed by
Doug Church
Doug Church (born November 16, 1968, in Evanston, Illinois), is an American video game designer and producer. He attended MIT in the late 1980s, but left and went to work with Looking Glass Studios, when they were making primarily MS-DOS-based i ...
and
Looking Glass Studios
Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Produc ...
, as well as its
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
, ''
System Shock
''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game is set aboard a space ...
'', ''
Wings of Glory
''Wings of Glory'' is a World War I combat flight simulator video game for DOS, developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts in 1995. The game uses Origin's RealSpace engine, which was first used in their earlier flight simulato ...
'' and numerous other titles. He later joined
Ion Storm and managed its Austin office, creating ''
Deus Ex
''Deus Ex'' is a series of role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technologies in a ...
''. Later co-founded the now-defunct
Junction Point Studios, acquired by
Disney Interactive
Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company.
History
1995–1996: Formation and beginnings
In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...
. Now works at
OtherSide Entertainment
OtherSide Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 2013 by Looking Glass Studios co-founder Paul Neurath. In June 2016, the company opened a second studio in Austin, Texas, led by Warr ...
as its Studio Director, creating ''
System Shock 3''.
*
Paul Steed
Paul Howard Steed Jr. (November 6, 1964 – August 11, 2012) was a video game modeller and artist. He worked for Origin Systems, Electronic Arts, id Software, Wild Tangent, Microsoft's Xbox, Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has bee ...
– ''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.
List of games
Canceled
*''BioPlus'' (Add-on for ''
BioForge
''BioForge'' is a 1995 action-adventure game developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS. Set in the future, the player controls an amnesiac cyborg trying to escape the research facility in which they are being held pris ...
''. Aka. ''BioForge Plus''.)
*''Carl's Crazy Carnival'' (action game in vein of ''
Mario
is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...
'' and ''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers m ...
'')
*''Citadel'' (first-person shooter)
*''Death & Destruction''
*''Space Race'' (racing game in vein of ''
Road Rash'' and ''
Super Monaco GP'')
*''Crusader: No Survivors'' (cancelled multiplayer expansion for ''
Crusader: No Regret'')
*''Crusader 3: No Escape / Crusader: No Mercy / Crusader II''
*''Worlds of Ultima: Arthurian Legends''
*''
Ultima Worlds Online: Origin''
*''Harry Potter Online''
*''Jane's A-10''
*''
Privateer 3''
*''
Strike Team''
*''
Wing Commander VII''
*''
Ultima X: Odyssey'' (2004)
References
{{Authority control
American companies established in 1983
American companies disestablished in 2004
Defunct video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
Video game companies based in Texas
Defunct companies based in Texas
Companies based in Austin, Texas
Video game companies established in 1983
Video game companies disestablished in 2004
1983 establishments in Texas
2004 disestablishments in Texas
Privately held companies based in Texas
Electronic Arts
Wing Commander (franchise)
1992 mergers and acquisitions