Ultima: the creator could reclaim the rights and make a new game, but will have to use different names

Ultima could soon return to the center of the video game scene, but in a decidedly atypical and quite interesting context. Because on one hand, there is Electronic Arts, which in the meantime has registered new trademarks related to the franchise, and on the other, the creator Richard Garriot will be able to reclaim some of the rights to his works starting next year.

EA acquired Ultima in 1992, and since then the franchise has remained almost completely inactive. Despite this long period of hiatus, the recent renewal of trademark protections indicates that the company continues to view the IP as an asset to be preserved and potentially utilized in the future.

"About every ten years, I have tried to collaborate with EA for a reboot of Ultima," Garriott stated on the YouTube channel Inside Games. "They always seemed sufficiently interested to start talking, only to abandon negotiations just as quickly."

However, 2027 represents an important date. U.S. copyright law allows authors to request the recovery of certain rights after 35 years from their transfer. For Garriott, who ceded the rights in 1992 with EA's acquisition of Origin Systems, the moment is now approaching.

The situation, however, remains particularly complex from a legal standpoint. "Copyright" and "Trademark" indeed follow distinct paths. Even if Garriott were to reclaim the rights to the original works, Electronic Arts would retain control over the name Ultima and related branding elements. This scenario could lead to the emergence of two parallel paths for the franchise. Garriott would have the possibility of developing a new project based on the original ideas and concepts of the series but without being able to use the name Ultima. At the same time, EA could publish or license new games under the Ultima brand but without the involvement of its original creator.

Garriott himself has hinted that he is particularly interested in reinterpreting the ideas that have defined the series over its more than forty years of history. However, it remains to be seen what form an eventual project related to the franchise could take, as Garriott has not specified what path he might pursue in the absence of support from EA.

For now, there are no official announcements or definitive plans from either side. Garriott is expected to participate in Dragon Con later this year and has indicated that he wants to arrive at the event with a clearer vision for the future of the project. In the meantime, the historic RPG series finds itself in a rare position within the video game landscape: its current owner and its original creator could simultaneously expand the universe of Ultima, but following completely different constraints and objectives.