| Former type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer games |
| Fate | disbanded |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Defunct | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, NH, United States |
| Key people | Richard Garriott Robert Garriott co-founders |
| Products | Ultima series Wing Commander series Crusader series Strike Commander System Shock Wings of Glory |
| Parent | Electronic Arts |
| Website | www.origin.ea.com(archived)[1] |
Origin Systems, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as OSI) was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004. It is most famous for the Ultima, Wing Commander, and Crusader game franchises.
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The company was founded in 1983 by brothers Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott, their father Owen, and Chuck Bueche because of the trouble they had collecting money owed to Richard for his games released by other companies. [2] Their first game was Ultima series, Ultima III: Exodus.
In September 1992, Electronic Arts acquired the company.[3]
In 1997, they released one of the earliest and most successful 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,[4] 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.
In early 2011, Electronic Arts restored the Origin brand for its electronic software distribution platform.[5]
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):
Origin's motto was "We Create Worlds" and its games were known for their well-realized plots and the amount of detail furnished. OSI was always ahead of the curve in terms of cutting edge graphics and game versatility.
The original Wing Commander, for instance, came with a booklet purporting to be a shipboard magazine named Claw Marks, written and published by the crew of the Tiger's Claw (ghost-written by Aaron Allston); it provided the player with a number of irrelevancies (such as an interview with the star of a popular televised wartime drama) as well as convenient statistics and user guides for ships, weapon systems, and information regarding pilots and tactics on both Terran and Kilrathi sides and also hints on a rich background history.