Editing Origin Systems (section)

==History==
Brothers [[Richard Garriott|Richard]] and [[Robert Garriott]], their astronaut-engineer father [[Owen K. Garriott|Owen]], and programmer [[Chuck Bueche]] founded Origin Systems in 1983 because of the trouble they had collecting money owed to Richard for his games released by other companies.<ref>Warren Spector interviewing Richard Garriott for his University of Texas Master Class in Video Games and Digital Media [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/03/04/warren-spector-interviews-every-bloody-one/]</ref><ref name="durkee19831112">{{cite news | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=6&id=14 | title=Profiles in Programming / Lord British | work=Softline | date=Nov–Dec 1983 | access-date=29 July 2014 | author=Durkee, David | page=26}}</ref> Origin was initially based in the Garriotts' garage in [[Houston, Texas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2015/4/6/8285529/looking-glass-history |title=Ahead of its time: The history of Looking Glass |first=Mike |last=Mahardy |date=6 April 2015 |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]}}</ref> The company's first game was ''[[Ultima III: Exodus]]''; because of Ultima's established reputation and the fact that the company's games were released on computers and not consoles, Origin survived the [[Video game crash of 1983|video-game crash of 1983]] which affected console game developers in North America. It published many non-''Ultima'' games, and Richard Garriott claimed that he received the same royalty rate as other developers.<ref name="ferrell198901">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-01-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_104_1989_Jan#page/n17/mode/2up | title=Dungeon Delving with Richard Garriott | work=Compute! | date=January 1989 | access-date=10 November 2013 | author=Ferrell, Keith | page=16}}</ref>

By 1988, Origin had 15 developers in [[Austin, Texas]], and another 35 employees in New Hampshire.{{r|ferrell198901}} By 1989 they had 50 employees  between their New Hampshire and Texas offices.<ref>{{Cite web|title=35 Years Of Influence - A Look Back at Origin Systems, Creators of Ultima and More|url=https://techraptor.net/gaming/features/35-years-of-influence-look-back-at-origin-systems-creators-of-ultima-and-more|access-date=2020-08-07|website=TechRaptor|date=19 April 2018 }}</ref> By 1992, Origin Systems had sold more than {{nowrap|1.5 million}} software units worldwide.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morrison |first1=Mike |title=The Magic of Interactive Entertainment |date=1994 |publisher=Sams |isbn=978-0-672-30456-9 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5NnLDpBy-zkC |quote=Origin Systems would sell more than 1.5 million units worldwide by 1992.}}</ref>

In September 1992, [[Electronic Arts]] [[List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts|acquired]] the company<ref name="escapistOrigin">{{cite web|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_14/87-The-Conquest-of-Origin|publisher=The Escapist|title=The Conquest of Origin|first=Allen|last=Varney|date=October 11, 2005|access-date=April 10, 2011|archive-date=January 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109085348/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_14/87-The-Conquest-of-Origin|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ELECTRONIC+ARTS+ANNOUNCES+AGREEMENT+TO+ACQUIRE+ORIGIN+SYSTEMS-a012612265|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404020143/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ELECTRONIC+ARTS+ANNOUNCES+AGREEMENT+TO+ACQUIRE+ORIGIN+SYSTEMS-a012612265|title=ELECTRONIC ARTS ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE ORIGIN SYSTEMS|website=[[PR Newswire]]|archivedate=April 4, 2015|date=September 10, 1992|accessdate=September 3, 2021|via=[[The Free Dictionary]]}}</ref> for $35 million in stock, despite a dispute between the two companies over EA's 1987 game ''[[Deathlord]]''. Origin, with about $13 million in annual revenue, stated that it had considered an [[IPO]] before agreeing to the deal.<ref name="cgw199211">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=100 | title=Electronic Arts And Origin Pool Resources in "Ultimate" Acquisition | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1992 | access-date=5 July 2014 | page=176}}</ref>

By 1996, Origin had expanded to more than 300 employees, most of whom were divided among small, largely autonomous development teams.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Origin|journal=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=13 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=January 1996|pages=105–8}}</ref> In 1997, Origin released one of the earliest graphical [[MMORPG]]s, ''[[Ultima Online]]''. After this title, Electronic Arts decided that Origin would become an online-only company after the completion of ''[[Ultima IX: Ascension]]'' in 1999. However, within a year's time, in part due to ''Ultima IX''{{'}}s poor reception,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frictionlessinsight.com/archives/2002/03/interview-with.html |title=Interview with Richard Garriott, Executive Producer, NCSoft Austin |publisher=Frictionlessinsight.com |date=2002-03-17 |access-date=2019-07-23}}</ref> EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including ''[[Ultima Online 2]]'', ''[[Wing Commander (franchise)#Privateer 3|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. The ''Longbow'' series of simulation games was developed at Origin and published under the ''[[Jane's Combat Simulations]]'' brand of Electronic Arts. A follow-on project, ''Jane's A-10'', was under development when the project was canceled in late 1998 and the team moved to other projects.