Electronic Arts Shuts Down Origin Systems?

An anonymous reader writes "Waterthread.org has picked up the following on the studio that brought us the popular Ultima and Wing Commander series: 'Game company Electronic Arts is expected to tell its Austin employees this week that the company will be shutting down Origin Systems, its Austin operations, according to sources. Employees will be offered an opportunity to relocate to California or accept a severance package. Company officials could not be reached for comment. Austin is the #3 location in the U.S. for game development with more than 50 companies making major contributions to the game industry, including game development, publishing, tools and middleware and chips and hardware." The Wing Commander CIC has also posted a epitaph for Origin."

Oh my

[pHatidic]

Wow this has got to be true. After all, if you can't trust vague and unsubstantiated rumors what can you trust?!

I hear they've been outsourced. . .

[nil5]

Mumbai Computer Gaming Concern.

hehe

[BortQ]

I can't for the life of me fathom the origin of this move.

Yeah. I'm here all night folks.

Ahh Ultima

[Veramocor]

Ahh Ultima, the source of my online screen name Veramocor. I will miss thee. +1 karma to anyone who can tell me what the word Veramocor does in U4 and what it does in U5. (nota bene: I have no power to actually give out karma)

Though there are some great ultima projects being worked on such as the lazarus project [u5lazarus.com]

Instead...

[natrius]

Instead of shutting Origin down, can't they just rename it Destination or something?

Oh Good!

[ABaumann]

Now EA will focus on making good games again, like this [trhonline.com]

Origin Haiku

[SoLO]

Origin is gone
not soon forgotten by us
Long live Ultima

Re:Not a surprise.

[ansonyumo]

Yeah, they should have snagged 105 E 5th when they had the chance!

Re:This will NOT kill Ultima Online.

[Golias]

Here's a quick tip for any fanboys awaiting sequels: The second they abandon the sequel number, expect the game to suck.

One notable exception: The follow-up to "Dead Or Alive 3" was named "Dead or Alive: eXtreme Beach Volleyball" and it was a masterpiece.

But then again, my opinion might be shaded by the fact that I'm a dirty old man.