Richard Garriott announces his departure from NCsoft

Some say they knew this day would come, while others swore it never would. In an official announcement on the Tabula Rasa website, Richard Garriott announced to the world today that he is leaving NCsoft to pursue other interests.

According to the announcement, Garriott's experience pursuing his lifelong dream of spaceflight has sparked some new interests in him, and he aims to devote his time and resources into these, instead of the MMO he worked to build for so many years. This still leaves us with many unanswered questions. Does this mean the end of Tabula Rasa as we know it? That part has not been mentioned at all, but we imagine there will at least be some upcoming changes, like, to the logo. You can read Garriott's departing letter just after the cut below, and let us know what you think of his resignation in the comments.

Fellow Soldiers of the AFS,

I am happy to finally be able to write the players and community of Tabula Rasa. We've been on quite a journey together. First in creating a game unlike any other on the MMO market, then growing a loyal community and finally launching the game and its players into space with Operation Immortality. It has been quite an unforgettable journey, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch. I thank the development team for pushing hard to get polish, updates and new content out every month since launch...a feat that I think is unusual in MMO development. They have a lot to be proud of.

Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.

This news is difficult for me to deliver. I am honored to have worked with the team I've had and I'm grateful to the community who makes this game so unique and fun.

Thank you and farewell.

Richard "General British" Garriott