Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961; nickname Lord British) is a significant figure in the video game industry. He was originally a game designer and programmer, but now engages in various aspects of computer game development.

Biography

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Garriott was born in Cambridge, England and raised in League City, Texas, a son of Skylab and Spacelab astronaut Owen K. Garriott. At Clear Creek High School, he took an interest in computers and began self-directed courses in programming in which he created fantasy computer games. He also gained his "Lord British" nickname from older students at his school who thought he spoke with a British accent.

Richard continued programming many games, often just offering them to friends for free. He produced his first published game, Akalabeth, in the summer of 1980 while working at a ComputerLand retail store. Garriott earned more than enough money from Akalabeth to pay to continue his education. In the fall, he entered the University of Texas at Austin, joined the school's fencing team and later joined the Society for Creative Anachronism.

In the early 1980s, Garriott developed the Ultima computer game series (sequels after the first were numbered, such as Ultima II, Ultima III and so on). Originally programmed for the Apple II, the first was published by California Pacific Computers, and sold in ziploc plastic bags to interested parties. The second part was published by Sierra On-Line. By the time he developed his third installment, the games had such a large following that Garriott (along with his brother, Robert, and father and others) established Origin Systems, their own video game publisher, to handle the publishing and distribution of his title, now available on several platforms. Origin went on to become one of the most influential game developers in video game history.

Garriott sold Origin to Electronic Arts in September 1992. For the most part, this did not directly impact development from a gamer's standpoint. But in 1999 and 2000, turmoil became apparent when EA cancelled all of Origin's new development projects, including Ultima Online 2, Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online. In the midst of these events, Garriott resigned from the company he had created. He returned to the industry by forming Destination Games in April 2000 with his brother and Starr Long (the producer of Ultima Online). Once Garriott's non-compete agreement with EA expired a year later, Destination partnered with NCsoft where he currently acts as a producer and designer of MMORPGs.

Garriott built a "haunted house"/museum as his residence called Britannia Manor in Austin, Texas. He also promotes private space flight as vice-chairman of the board of directors for Space Adventures and as a trustee of the X-Prize.

Garriott became the ninth inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2006.

Video game works

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Game Name	First Released	System Name(s)	Garriott's Role(s)
Akalabeth: World of Doom	1979	Apple II & DOS	Game Designer, Coder & Programmer
Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness	1981	Apple II, DOS, Commodore 64 & MSX	Original Conceptor, Programmer & Graphic Artist
Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress	1982	Apple II, DOS, Commodore 64 & Atari 8 bit sytems	Programmer
Ultima III: Exodus	1983	Apple II, DOS, Atari 8 bit systems, NES, Amiga & Commodore 64	Project Director
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar	1985	Apple II, DOS, Atari ST, NES, MSX, Amiga, Commodore 64 & Sega Master System	Project Director
Autoduel	1985	Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS & Amiga	Programmer & Designer
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny	1988	Apple II, DOS, Atari ST, NES, Amiga & Commodore 64	Designer, Writer & Programmer
Omega	1989	Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, DOS & Commodore 64	Designer
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire	1990	DOS & SNES	Executive Producer
Ultima VI: The False Prophet	1990	DOS, Atari ST, SNES, Amiga & Commodore 64	Designer, Producer, Sound Effect Worker & Writer
Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2 Martian Dreams	1991	DOS	Creative Director
Ultima: Runes of Virtue	1991	Game Boy	Creative Director
Ultima VII: The Black Gate	1992	DOS & SNES	Director & Producer
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss	1992	DOS & PlayStation	Director
Ultima VII: The Forge of Virtue	1993	DOS	Creative Assistance & Producer
Ultima VII Part Two: The Silver Seed	1993	DOS	Director & Voice Actor
Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle	1993	DOS	Creative Director & Audio Team Member
Ultima VIII: Pagan	1994	DOS	Producer
Ultima: Runes of Virtue II	1994	Game Boy	Creative Director & Additional Design
Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale Expansion Pack	Cancelled	DOS	Producer
Bioforge	1995	DOS	Executive Producer
Ultima Online	1997	Windows	Producer
The Second Age	1998	Windows	Executive Designer
Lineage	1998	Windows & Mac OS X	Executive Producer
Ultima IX: Ascension	1999	Windows	Director
Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle	2003	Windows	Executive Producer
City of Heroes	2004	Windows	Executive Producer
City of Villains	2005	Windows	Executive Management
Tabula Rasa	2006	?	Executive Producer

External links

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• Bio of Garriott from MobyGames.com
• Biography of Garriott from DragonCon.org
• Video Interview with Garriott from KLRU TV Station (2005)
• Interview with Garriott in Austin Chronicle from 2000
• Munchkin Village mayor tries to go to space: Computer programmer touts commercial space tourism (The Daily Texan, 7/19/2005)
• Interview with Richard Garriott on space tourism (The Space Review, 8/8/2005)
• The Dot Eaters article featuring a history of Gariott/Lord British, his games, and Origin.

1961 births | Living people | Computer and video game designers | Game programmers | Natives of Cambridgeshire | People from Houston | University of Texas at Austin alumni | Ultima

Richard Garriott | Richard Garriott | リチャード・ギャリオット | Richard Garriott