Ultima Copyright: Garriott Explains How He Gets It Back

Richard Garriott wants Ultima back. That much has been clear for most of 2026, as the Ultima creator (and, yes, a man who has been to space) has spent the year talking about reclaiming control of the series that made his name. What hadn't been clear was how. Now he has filled in that gap, and the answer is simpler than many fans might have expected.

A 35-year clock

The mechanism is all about time. As the original holder of the Ultima copyright, Garriott says he is entitled to take it back once 35 years have passed. The clock started when he sold Origin, the studio behind Ultima, to Electronic Arts in 1992. Add 35 years and you land on 2027.

So 2027 is the year the copyright can return to him. Garriott says he has already notified EA this year, and the publisher is now negotiating with him. Those talks reportedly cover any limitations that might apply and any additional elements that need to be considered as part of the handover.

It's a tidy explanation for something that had mostly been framed as an ambition. This isn't a buyout, and it isn't EA generously handing over a dusty licence. As Garriott describes it, it's simply a right he holds as the person who created the work in the first place.

Copyright is not the whole story

There's an important catch, though. What Garriott is reclaiming is the copyright, not the trademark. For readers less familiar with the distinction: copyright covers the creative work itself, while a trademark protects the name and branding used to sell a product. The Ultima trademark still belongs to EA.

That doesn't necessarily stop anything. It would likely still be possible to work around the trademark issue. But it does mean that "Garriott gets Ultima back" comes with an asterisk, at least for now.

What he plans to do with it

This is where things get murky. Garriott hasn't said what he actually intends to do once the copyright is his. Re-releases of the classic games? A brand-new entry? Something else entirely? There's no word on any of it yet.

His recent track record gives fans plenty to chew on. His last major game was Shroud of the Avatar, the spiritual successor to Ultima. After that came an NFT game that fizzled out before it ever reached any kind of real release.

Then there's the generative AI question. According to one fan's report from a DragonCon panel, Garriott is all in on generative AI. That's only a secondhand account, but it's the kind of detail that will make a lot of longtime Ultima players nervous, given how heated the debate over AI in game development has become.

Our Take

For MMO players, this matters because Ultima Online is one of the foundational games of the genre, and any change in who controls the wider Ultima world is worth paying attention to. Garriott's explanation turns a vague promise into something concrete: a legal right with a date attached. That alone makes this more than wishful thinking.

But a copyright is only a starting point. Without the trademark, and without any announced plan, there's nothing yet for fans to actually play or even picture. It's worth watching what comes out of his negotiations with EA, since the "limitations" and "additional elements" being discussed could shape how much of Ultima he can really use in practice.

The bigger picture is that old online worlds keep finding ways back into the conversation, whether through official owners or long-dormant projects like Pirates of the Burning Sea resurfacing on Steam. Nostalgia clearly still has pull. Whether Garriott can turn that into something worthwhile, after Shroud of the Avatar's mixed legacy and a stalled NFT venture, is very much an open question. His reported enthusiasm for generative AI suggests the next Ultima, if there is one, might look quite different from what veterans remember. Until he actually says what he's building, cautious curiosity seems like the sensible response.