Origin Systems

Origin Systems at a Glance

Origin Systems operated as a major force in the United States gaming market from 1982 until its disbandment in 2004. Founded in 1983 by brothers Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott, along with their father Owen and Chuck Bueche, the studio began because the founders needed better control over royalties for Richard's previous work. Their first release was Ultima III: Exodus, a title that helped the company survive the video game crash of that same year. The catalog on PlayPile contains 52 games from the studio, with 48 developed in-house and 23 published under their banner. The company produced 16 titles during the 1980s and saw a significant surge to 33 games in the 1990s. Their output focused heavily on role-playing games, which make up 32 of their releases, followed by 17 simulators and 11 adventure titles. They supported a wide range of hardware, with DOS being the dominant platform at 37 titles, though they also released games for Mac, Commodore C64, Apple II, and Amiga. By 1988, they had grown to 50 employees split between Texas and New Hampshire, and by 1996, that number exceeded 300 people working in autonomous teams. Electronic Arts acquired Origin in September 1992 for $35 million in stock. This partnership led to the release of some of their highest-rated work, including System Shock in 1994 with a score of 92.6 and Ultima VII: The Black Gate in 1992 scoring 89.7. Other standout titles from this era include Wing Commander: Privateer and Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. Their average rating across 30 rated games stands at 75.1, with 12 titles receiving great marks and 15 rated as good. They had no poor-rated games in the dataset, though they did have three mixed releases. The quality of their output shifted noticeably after the acquisition. In late 1997, they released Ultima Online, an early graphical MMORPG that scored 81.4. However, later projects showed a decline. Ultima VIII: Gold Edition and Wing Commander: Prophecy both received scores in the high 70s or low 60s. Ultima IX: Ascension, released in November 1999, received a score of only 62.4. This poor reception contributed to Electronic Arts canceling all new development projects at Origin within a year, including sequels for Ultima Online and a Harry Potter game. The studio was officially disbanded in February 2004 after focusing on supporting existing online titles.

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