Garriott to re-enter MMO arena?

Richard Garriott has told the BBC that, after distancing himself from the games scene in 2008, he is "keen to get back into the fray and work on a new game".

Summarising 2008 from a gaming perspective, Garriott praised Blizzard’s continuing success with World of Warcraft, saying: "If I had to pick a developer who has done a bang up job, it would be Blizzard.

"The number of people they have converted is just amazing. They have shown all of us what good game development is all about."

After spending 12 days in the International Space Station in 2008, and three months in quarantine in preparation, Garriott is keen to get back to the setting that made him famous, the medieval fantasy setting: "After 25 years at Origin, the last thing I wanted to make was yet another medieval fantasy game. Now, after a very interesting break, I’m keen to get back into the fray and work on a new game. Probably medieval fantasy and probably online; there’s something very powerful about getting people together."

Quite where Garriott will do this is unknown, but it’s unlikely to be at NCsoft, which he left towards the end of last year after the poor performance of his sci-fi MMO Tabula Rasa.