Richard Garriott has announced plans to regain control of the Ultima series using a copyright provision. The move comes after decades of stalled revival talks with EA. He aims to act as soon as next year without buying the rights outright.
Game designer Richard Garriott revealed his intention to retake the Ultima series he created. He sold Origin Systems to EA in 1992 and has tried multiple times since then to revive the franchise. EA has filed new trademarks for Ultima while the last mainline game appeared in 1999.
Garriott told Inside Games that EA repeatedly started discussions only to drop them. An obscure copyright law allows him to reclaim the work after 35 years. EA would keep the trademark, forcing any new game to use a different brand.
Garriott said he expects to share more details at Dragon Con in Atlanta later this year.