How many are left at Origin anyway? I thought they’d been absorbed by the corporate moloch years ago.
I thought they were dead years ago. Remember, “Lord British” had a huge bonfire with the employees who were laid off? This was 4+ years ago I think.
Symbolically depressing, even if the Origin name hasn’t really meant anything for a long, long while…
“Electronic Art’s” ?
I remember that place! Right next door to Crazy Eddie’s!
Weren’t they already dead? Ah well. Thanks for reminding us about one of the saddest chapters in gaming history. :cry:
The original press release announcing Ultima X last year said Origin Systems was developing the game.
I’m not sure if that’s the Austin studio, but…
Clicky to see announcement: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ultimaxodyssey/news_6073743.html
It would be just like EA to shut down their second innovative looking MMO.
out of curiousity, which do you consider their first innovative looking MMO?
I still have the Multiplayer Battletech 3025 beta client on my hard disk, out of wistful hope-against-hope that it might one day be brought back… Fuck EA! I would have paid $50 a month to play that game.
They had a nice building that I liked driving into. Getting up the hill in my little Geo Tracker was a bitch though.
Yeah, I was disappointed they canned that, especially since it was so far along. EA went a little nuts there with EA.com. Just about every EA.com effort flopped – Motor City Online, Earth and Beyond, The Sims Online (not really a flop, but a disappointment), and Majestic.
And to think that Privateer Online, Battletech 3025, and UO2 were all cancelled so that the above might live. How could they have been more wrong?
They could have price gouged the hell of the Battletech property just because of how devoted the fans were. Lots of the people who were helping with the beta were people who had previously paid by the hour to play battletech over gamestorm.
Yes, RG had a huge bonfire after EA layed off a bunch of people from Origin but there were still people working at the austin office for UO development and support.
It’s depressing. I can’t help but wonder what kind of utopian gaming world we would have right now if Origin hadn’t been assimilated by EA way back when.
Maybe that’s overstatement. Although having more Wing Commander and single player Ultima games would be pretty close.
While I used to be a huge Origin fan, buying basically every game they made in the mid-'90s, no one forced RG to sell his company to EA.
I could have sworn I came across a link for a group that was working on resurrecting bt3025 in some form. I can’t find it now though.
I’ve been mourning the apparent dimise of Origin since they cancelled Privateer Online many years ago. They’ll be missed, but this doesn’t hit me as hard as Looking Glass’ demise did, which was much more of a shock.
They’ll be missed, but this doesn’t hit me as hard as Looking Glass’ demise did, which was much more of a shock.
This was definitely a slow death.
BT 2025 had some good moments (I played the beta pretty extensively) but also some terrible flaws. Battles being limited to four on four, a completely broken (non-existent, really) strategic system, and no way to simulate anything other than straight up deathmatch battles (no infantry, vehicles, objectives, whatever) really detracted from its longevity and I think made it impossible to have a future as a subscription game. I really don’t think many would have paid $10/month to play it, and obviously EA didn’t think so either. :)
Yeah that’s an overstatement. I guess it’s cool to think that companies like Looking Glass and Origin could have “saved” gaming, but I don’t really see how.