GameSpy: Sorry, but everyone wants to know -- what in the hell happened with Ultima 8 and 9?

Richard Garriott: Hah! I can easily explain. If you look at Ultima 8 -- and that's my least favorite of the series -- the causes are multiple, but understandable. Look at Origin's history with Electronic Arts ... we became part of that company halfway through the development of Ultima 7. That game was the most inventive game in the series, and my favorite, and Ultima 8 wound up being the most generic and derivative.

Ultima 7 was kind of the game's ultimate realization ... every object was useful and touchable, and the story made sense; it was the Ultima of Ultimas for me. One of the first mistakes I made starting with Ultima 8 was to let Electronic Arts convince me that it was better to ship every year on a predictable schedule then to ship a game at an unknown future date when it was actually done and ready to go out the door. It was a belief engendered by the success the company had with its sports franchises. Although these games introduced only slight technological upgrades from year to year, because everyone knew when they were coming out, it was easy for EA to market them and make big money.​