Ultima creator Richard Garriott announces Lord British social game

Richard Garriott, game designer by day and astronaut by night, has revealed his first two social games: Lord British's New Britannia (working title) and Ultimate Collector, Gamasutra reports. Garriott recently called out Zynga, claiming that it should watch out for Portalarium, his new social game development company. The mind behind the Ultima series unveiled the two games at South by Southwest in Austin, Tx.

The first game will obviously revolve around Garriott's famous alter-ego, Lord British, but he said that the game will be more than simply a lighter MMO on Facebook. "The virtual world game is not just an ultra-light MMO shopped on social media," Garriott said to a room of potential investors and fans. "I think that would be a failure."

The eminent game designer and his team at Portalarium are participating in Accelerator, a SXSW competition for technology start-ups that has served as a launchpad for services like Foursquare in the past. Through this, the company is looking for $3.8 million in funding for both its Lord British game and Ultimate Collector. The latter is set to release first in the second quarter.

This first game out of gate is an ambitious effort, combining social gameplay with a TV game show. Surprisingly, Garriott himself is hosting the show, whose pilot has already been filmed. Other than these slivers, details are scarce on the two games. It's comforting to see that Garriott is taking this seriously, but whether Portalarium can reach an audience suitable for the big leagues will likely be its greatest challenge.

[Image Credit: Giant Bomb]

Which of Garriott's games are you more excited about? Do you think Portalarium has a chance to become notable among companies like Zynga? Speak up in the comments. Add Comment.