Xboxist

Richard Garriott Joins Social Media Company

What do you do after you've created the legendary RPG series Ultima and pioneered the realm of MMORPGs with Ultima Online. Blow $30 million dollars to go to space and become an astronaut tourist? Check.

It's without question that Richard Garriott has done it all. In a single lifetime he has realized several dreams, whereas the common man stills dreams of accomplishing one.

Now, after a two-year break, he has turned his sights away from space and once again is focused on the world of gaming. Garriott has signed on as the technical director for a social media company called Portalarium, based in Austin, Texas. His role will be to focus on "developing and publishing online social games, virtual worlds and related services and products."

The first product from the company will be The Portalarium Player, a web browser plug-in that facilitates games running smoothly across a multitude of major social networks. Their portfolio of upcoming games include a Texas hold 'em poker game called Sweet @$! Poker, which is about to debut on Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks as well as be compatible with the Mac, iPhone and Android.

Garriott stated, "The Portalarium mission is exactly what I want to be doing next in games. This really takes me back to my roots in the game business - small development teams, low barriers to entry, affordable budgets for quality projects, and unlimited new interactive frontiers to explore together with our customers."

With a stable of game industry veterans by his side, Garriott's prospects of hitting another home run at Portalarium looks mighty fine indeed.