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'''Origin Systems''' was a video game developer and publisher founded in March 1983 by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert in the garage of his parents home, and known for creating among others the ''Ultima'' and ''[[Wing Commander (series)|Wing Commander]]'' franchises.

Brothers Richard and Robert Garriott, their astronaut-engineer father Owen, and programmer Chuck Bueche founded Origin Systems in 1983 because of the trouble they had collecting money owed to Richard for his games released by other companies and overall being fed up with previous publishers.<ref name=":3">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc5OMjoZEpI Richard Garriott Interview], YouTube, 3 Apr 2018</ref> The company was started with $US70000 in the familly garage.<ref name=":3" />

The company's first game was ''Ultima III: Exodus.''<ref>[https://youtu.be/XPXAtsYafJo?feature=shared G4 Icons Episode #14: Richard Garriott], G4Icon, YouTube, 2 Feb 2012</ref>

As sales increased, Origin became a rising star in the emerging computer games market of the 1980s, while the console market had its infamous crash from 1983 to 1985. As the success of ''Ultima'' became established, they hired other designers and programmers who developed their own, lesser-known games such as ''Moebius'' and ''Ogre''.<ref name=":1">[https://techraptor.net/gaming/features/35-years-of-influence-look-back-at-origin-systems-creators-of-ultima-and-more 35 Years Of Influence - A Look Back at Origin Systems, Creators of Ultima and More], TechRaptor, April 19, 2018</ref>

On the front page of their 1987 catalog, the studio’s identity began to take shape: “The fantasy begins with Origin Systems… and never ends.” By 1989, their motto changed to “Others write software… We create worlds.” <ref name=":1" /> Origin sought to create games with depth, story and longevity rather than standard games.<ref name=":3" />

[[File:Chris Roberts with Richard Garriott in 1988.jpg|thumb|Chris Roberts with Richard Garriott in 1988]][[Chris Roberts]] joined Origin Systems in 1987 with a publishing contract and made [[Times of Lore]] and [[Bad Blood]], as well as [[Wing Commander I|''WIng Commander I'']] and ''[[Wing Commander II|WIng Commander II]].'' [[Tony Zurovec]] joined Origin Systems in 1990 where he worked on the Ultima games and created Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret.<ref>[https://youtu.be/8dL3nrrj2ZA Meet Tony Zurovec], YouTube, 19 Jun 2014</ref> [[Martin Galway]] joined Origin Systems as Audio Director in 1990.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/12745-Meet-Martin-Galway|accessdate=2012-10-22}}</ref> [[Chris Olivia]] also worked there, as did [[Sean Murphy]]. [[David Ladyman]] joined in 1991 working on the immersive manuals.<ref>[https://youtu.be/_AImlyl--_8 SCAA Interview with CIG's David Ladyman,] Nichole D'Angelo, YouTube, 14 May 2014</ref> [[Paul Vaden]] and [[John Erskine]] worked on ''Ultima Online''.<ref>[https://youtu.be/_70W7tda_Uc?feature=shared Star Citizen Live: Meet the Devs - Publishing and Corporate Technology], Star Citizen, YouTube, 9 February 2024.</ref> [[Michael Morlan]] joined in 1995 as Animator.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/12841-Meet-Michael-Morlan|text=Meet Michael Morlan!|accessdate=2012-12-19}}</ref>

Both ''Ultima'' and the ''Wing Commander'' games proved extremely succesful, however as times were changing games were becoming ever more expensive, needing more games boxes to meet more demand, more storage space, more manpower, more office space, more time to be made, and the ''Ultima'' and ''Wing Commander'' games needed ever more investment to stay on top, investment which was hard to secure at the time in the middle of a recession, a real estate bubble and local financial scandals that had made local banks far more reserved. Origin eventually found itself in a serious financial bind, as a relatively small company without a lot of product diversification.<ref name=":4">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140604182218/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_14/87-The-Conquest-of-Origin.2 The Conquest of Origin], The Escapist, page 2, 11 October 2005, archived</ref><ref name=":2">[https://www.filfre.net/2019/09/origin-sells-out/ Origin Sells Out], The Digital Antiquarian, September 6, 2019</ref>

Despite Origin troubled history with EA, which led to negative references to EA in the Ultima games, Origin was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary by Electronic Arts in 1992.<ref name=":2" /> Chris Roberts didn't want to sell Wing Commander to EA, however the terms of the deal were that if EA was buying Origin they had to get Wing Commander and Ultima. It was a dealbreaker if Chris Roberts said no and a lot of other people who had helped to build the company up over time would have their payoff for all the hard work destroyed. So Chris Roberts agreed and the sale went through for $35 million in stock.<ref name=":0">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140914215106/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/chris-roberts-star-citizen-profile The Stars His Destination: Chris Roberts from Origin to Star Citizen,] 2014-09-13, archived</ref> As part of the deal he had to sign a four year employment contract ending in 1996.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19990508124322/http://www.g-o-l.com/html/croberts-intervista-inglese.html Games on Line's interview to Chris Roberts], archived</ref>

Even if the culture of Origin started to erode, the acquisition initially went well and EA brought structure and its deep pockets allowed Origin to prepare for the anticipated future when games would require more money, time, and manpower to create, with Origin doubling in size, going from 200 to 400 employees and from 5-10 projects to 10-20, however most new employees were inexperienced and the projects were not being well managed, which Richard Garriott says was on Origin.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" />