Garriott before his space adventure

Following Richard Garriott's brief sojourn on the International Space Station last month, the legendary game designer also known as "Lord British" has announced via an open letter on the Tabula Rasa website that he has decided to leave NCsoft in order to pursue 'some new interests' that were sparked by his recent voyage into space.

While we previously speculated if his journey into space would serve to influence future games from the designer, Garriott does not state plainly as to whether he will return to developing games in the future - nor what these 'new interests' are. In his letter, Garriott thanked gamers for their patience with Tabula Rasa before bidding them farewell.

In October, Garriott described his his space-faring experience as the most 'gratifying than anything I could have ever imagined', with these sentiments very much still alive, as outlined in Garriott's open letter '... it has been quite an unforgettable journey, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life'.

In his open letter, Garriott also conceded that there were some flaws with Tabula Rasa, thanking gamers for their patience:

I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch. I thank the development team for pushing hard to get polish, updates and new content out every month since launch ... a feat that I think is unusual in MMO development. They have a lot to be proud of.

Garriot then outlined his plans for the future, before bidding farewell to gamers:

Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.

This news is difficult for me to deliver. I am honored to have worked with the team I've had and I'm grateful to the community who makes this game so unique and fun.

Thank you and farewell.

There is no mistaking that the contributions Richard Garriott has made to the video game industry shape many of the products we see on shelves and in development at the moment.


(Images from Tabula Rasa)
His work on the Ultima series shaped and inspired what is now one of the most popular gaming forms of the current day - the MMORPG. While some of the more recent games which Garriott has worked on have received mixed responses, his contributions and career within the video game industry will be remembered for some time.