Eerder deze week meldden we al dat er geruchten waren dat Electronic Arts ontwikkelaar Origin Systems zou gaan sluiten. Wel, het hoge nieuws is eruit en de geruchten zijn bevestigd: Origin Systems is niet meer.

Origin Systems is een langlopend bedrijf, dat begin jaren '80 faam vervierf met de Ultima serie. In de jaren '90 kwam het bedrijf vervolgens ook nog met een aantal Wing Commander games op de proppen en werd het een gevestigde ontwikkelaar in de games-industrie. De laatste titel die men ontwikkelde was Ultima Online: Age of Shadows, welke in 2003 op de markt kwam.

"The Austin game development community is really an extended family in many ways. Past members of the Origin team have have gone on to create a number of powerful local studios in their own rights," said Christopher Sherman, Executive Director of the Austin Game Initiative (AGI). "And there is every expectation that the talented members of the Origin that do opt to remain in Austin will be snapped up by existing studios in the region or may once again spawn a new crop of studios here locally. The subject of EA's plans came up at the International Game Developers A ociation (IGDA) local chapter meeting yesterday evening and the mood was very upbeat with attendees being very supportive. With so much talent expected to be available several local studio heads have indicated they are now evaluating accelerating their hiring plans," Sherman said.