Garriott returns to gaming with Portalarium
by Krystalle Voecks 
Feb 17th 2010 at 3:00PM
Filed under: Business models, Launches, MMO industry, News items, Casual
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Richard Garriott isn't a man content to rest on his laurels. Just after we hear that the documentary about his space trip is coming out, we now hear that he's found a new niche in the multi-player gaming industry. Only this time, he's not developing a traditional MMO as one might suspect. Instead, Garriott has revealed his involvement in a start-up called Portalarium, which is setting out to get a chunk of that browser-based social game cash floating around on Facebook and other social media networks. Currently, Portalarium isn't so much a games company as a games engine company. According to a great writeup about this new company by Dean Takahashi over on GamesBeat, their general feeling is that the current crop of Facebook games are "relatively primitive in terms of game play." The Portalarium team plans to make richer, more engaging games that will manage to give players a high-quality game while still remaining in a browser and not needing a separate download. In all, it's a fascinating article -- both in terms of technology, and in terms of what Garriott has been up to (there's a bit about Tabula Rasa in there too) -- so be sure to pop over there and give the full article a read.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Phil said on 3:26PM 2-17-2010
I'm not saying the guy is good or bad, but he sure does look like a goober in that picture.
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Russell Clarke said on 3:37PM 2-17-2010
That'll be the questionable facial hair, which seems so prevalent in the industry.
starzzareblind said on 3:51PM 2-17-2010
...lol....>_>
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MrGutts said on 3:54PM 2-17-2010
That is one of those pictures that you have a camera crew taking pictures and you are grinding your teeth wanting them to hurry the hell up.
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jmckinney71 said on 4:11PM 2-17-2010
When I have a mental image of an astronaut, it often includes a rat-tail.
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jmckinney71 said on 4:12PM 2-17-2010
Or two.
Jack said on 4:33PM 2-17-2010
Noting about what this news is really about Richard Garriott giving up on massively multiplayer games! Portalarium will make browser base social Facebook games!!!!
OMG how far can you fall sorry Richard Garriott but this is a real bad move!
I known that Facebook social games are easy cash in right now but really man do you really can call this game design?
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Aqualisk said on 4:40PM 2-17-2010
I am sorry to hear that Garriott is turning away from MMO's. I enjoyed TR a lot and Ultima Online was the first MMO I ever played. Facebook games are not the way to go.
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Valkrysa said on 4:51PM 2-17-2010
If we assume that potential revenue is the only important factor then facebook games may indeed be the way to go.
Bunny said on 5:19PM 2-17-2010
Great. More facebook spam.
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derella said on 5:22PM 2-17-2010
I wish he would turn back to single-player games. He was good at that for years.
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Wjowski said on 5:34PM 2-17-2010
Facebook is popular so it's not cool to talk about it.
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ethereal.wolf said on 6:18PM 2-17-2010
portalarium sounds like a fancy portapotty.
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Dblade said on 6:44PM 2-17-2010
First Raph Koster, and now Richard Garriott. All these visionaries just lining up to make the next farmville or maybe free realms. I understand the need to keep the bills paid, but its the equivalent of making Bratz games or Minigame collections for the Wii to me.
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Vyper said on 7:41PM 2-17-2010
I'm more interested in the juicy details of the $24 million dollar lawsuit against Garriott by NCSoft.
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Brian! said on 7:49PM 2-17-2010
I can't even count the ways I hate farmville and, more, the people behind it.
If Garriott's plan is to join the ranks of slimeball multi-level-marketers + unwanted spammers then I say he has sunk to a whole new low.
To think for a while we actually got him off the earth. Who's bright idea was it to let him back in?
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Brian! said on 7:54PM 2-17-2010
Ok. Maybe I am being too harsh. Someone should have just made him a deal - You can come back to Earth but no more creating crappy games, which means no more games.
I wouldn't be so hard on the guy if he didn't have such a huge ego and went boasting about TR for years only to release a game that lacked... well, everything. And whomever is "really" to blame with that major failure, Richard kept his name on the box. By that huge ego action, I say if you are going to put your name on a product, then you take responsibility for it.
molecule said on 9:22PM 2-17-2010
Um, Garriott has made more good games than bad ones. You may be too young to have played them, but they exist.
He marketed TR because, well, it was his game. What the hell else would he do, try to dissuade people from playing it? TR did not lack *everything* by any stretch. It wasn't a breakout hit, but it had a sustainable population. It was certainly doing better than some games on the market today. NC Soft had a vendetta, and that is that. I enjoyed it, and I know plenty of other people that did as well. Was it as revolutionary as UO? No. But it was still a fun game to play.
Also, how exactly are you wanting him to "take responsibility"? Yes, he put his name on the box. Some people would say that in itself is taking responsibility. What do you want? A personal apology because you didn't like his game? Gimme a break.
I'm pretty sure that all the Garriott hating is really just nerdrage fueled jealousy.
Machinator said on 10:04PM 2-17-2010
Don't care unless it's Ultima Online 2.
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Ripper McGee said on 11:34PM 2-17-2010
Personally, I'm excited about Portalarium. They're definitely not talking about "normal" Facebook games like Farmville or Mafia Wars. As a company, they've got the vision, drive and talent to pull off something really cool. Let's see what they can do.
~Ripper
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