In honor of Quake's 30th birthday, here's the most updated version of the Quake family tree that I could find online. If it's a first person 3D game, it's most likely got some of Quake's DNA.
BREAKING NEWS: Richard "Lord British" Garriott is reclaiming major copyright control over the Ultima series from EA starting in 2027. This isn't a buyback—it's using the US copyright law's 35-year termination rule for the 1992 Origin Systems sale.
Garriott created the series in 1981 (with Akalabeth in '79). Origin built classics that defined open-world RPGs, the Virtues morality system, and helped pioneer MMOs with Ultima Online in 1997. EA bought them for ~$30-35M. He worked on Ultima VII, IX, and UO but left around 2000 after tensions and canceled projects. EA has barely touched single-player Ultima since.
He's tried reviving it for decades with little success. Now he gets back copyrights to stories, characters (including Lord British), code, art, and look/feel from his era—perfect for remasters, sequels, or new games. EA keeps the "Ultima" trademark, so expect "Lord British's Ultima" branding.
He confirmed this in a fresh Inside Games interview, saying he'll "pick up the mantle again." More details at Dragon Con in September.
EA just filed new trademarks, adding speculation. It happened at the exact same time Garriott's copyright reclamation story broke.
Fans immediately wondered:
- Is EA rushing to lock down the name before Garriott can do more with "Lord British's Ultima"?
- Are they quietly planning their own project (remaster, mobile, new MMO, etc.)?
- Or is it just coincidence/timing because the old filings were expiring around now?
What do you think?
This will be a rare creator win vs a big publisher, and might inspire more creators to do the same... let's wait and see.
This bold move by LB could finally revive Britannia properly. What do you want most—Ultima VII remaster, new single-player, or UO revival?
#Ultima #LordBritish #RPG
I've got PICO-8 emulation on the NES somewhat working.
This could bring thousands of games to the NES library, expanding it by over 10x.
The folks making those chinese NES-on-a-chip consoles are gonna love this.
Got reminded of that Mario 64 video while working on my game lol. Turns out rotating a platform by 30° instantly makes it way more interesting.
My philosophy for this game is: if there's a cooler way to do something, why not go for it?
#gamedev#indiedev