EA signs top British writer Morgan

By Robert Purchese Published 5 November, 2009

Sci-fi wizard working on three games.

Award winning British author Richard K. Morgan has been hired by EA to oversee the stories of three new games.

Morgan, author of Altered Carbon (Philip K. Dick Award) and Black Man (Arthur C. Clarke Award), confirmed that the projects will all be science fiction, and he's rather over excited about his new position.

"Video-gaming is the only thing in my life that I would fully qualify as an addiction. I like a fairly limited number of games (there's an awful lot of dross out there), but those I like, I really like, and will play them until the game paths, enemy spawning points and scripted incidentals are graven into my synapses," wrote Morgan on his blog.

"One producer I'm working with at the moment likens what we're doing to working in Hollywood circa 1920, when everyone was still working out what you could do with this wild, new medium called film; the only difference is that the rate of evolution in technique for video games is running at about a dozen times the speed it ever did for film. The field is open, the potential huge and, in story terms, only just beginning to be properly tapped

For a writer, that's a pretty close definition of paradise," he added.

Morgan stops short of clarifying what the games will be, although EA has a stable of science fiction-based IP he could work on: Command & Conquer and Rage, for instance.

The writer could also be consulting on the mysterious Project RedLime, in development at Starbreeze Studios, as well as helping pen the confirmed continuation of the Dead Space series.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • M_of_the_sys #1 2 years ago

    "Video-gaming is the only thing in my life that I would fully qualify as an addiction."

    Did you know that there's a rehab for that now Morgan?

  • Normski #2 2 years ago

    Is the only requirement for being a top sci-fi author having a middle initial?

  • udat #3 2 years ago

    Oi, Richard, Syndicate!!!!

  • TriggerHippie #4 2 years ago

    This is great news. The involvement of qualified and talented writers in the production of games can only be a good thing. Plus, I love his books so personally I'm very interested to see what comes of this.
    Edited by 1 at 05/11/09 @ 15:36

  • Farfarer #5 2 years ago

    Interesting stuff. Altered Carbon is a fantastic book, many times whilst reading it I figured that'd be a good basis for a game.

    Let's hope he manages some good stuff without being stifled by EA too much...

  • Wolverfrog #6 2 years ago

    I've never heard of him, I rarely read Sci-fi. Still, it should be good.

  • Chazmeister #7 2 years ago

    @ Normski

    Actually they leave his middle initial out on his book covers.

    Anyway Morgan's a damn good writer, so I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.

  • Roarster #8 2 years ago

    Little known fact, I once viewed this guys flat when I was thinking of moving. Decided against it in the end though, no security entrance was a bit of a deal breaker for us.

    Carry on...

  • Eraysor #9 2 years ago

    "EA signs top British writer Morgan"

    For a second there I almost thought it meant Piers Morgan, which probably would have resulted in my suicide.

  • Grayvern #10 2 years ago

    Sweetness Altered Carbon and the Steel Remains were great, both funny cynical and brutal. Looking forward to finding out what hes working on.

  • TOOTR #11 2 years ago

    Altered Carbon FTW! Really liked some of his other stuff too but haven't read his fantasy novel steel remains yet.

    This could be awesome news ... then again the untouchable Douglas Adams (RIP) helped write a game once didn't he (starship titanic or something like that?) and I believe the results were mixed. Happy to be corrected by someone who remembers better though!

  • Stoatboy #12 2 years ago

    @Farfarer: Yep - also thought Altered Carbon had some great ideas for games. Cracking book, that.

    Black Man and The Steel Remains were ace too.

    This has reminded me I've still got a couple of his to read too...

  • Doctor_What #13 2 years ago

    Altered Carbon was superb, but I can't help feel that he's been slowly losing the edge since then. Still, it's good that EA are taking authors seriously and not just thinking about screenwriters.

  • tomkuryakin #14 2 years ago

    EA should be applauded for hiring a professional to write for their games, although personally I'd have chosen someone whose style was more streamlined. He does write doorstops and the last thing games need is more text to wade through or listen to.

    Perhaps film or TV scriptwriters would be better?

  • BritishBlue1 #15 2 years ago

    EA doing the smart thing by signing a professional to pen their material, I hope this guy is good, I've never actually read any of his material. I think I'll take a trip down to the library and check him out.

  • RedPanda #16 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • iWolf #17 2 years ago

    Terrific news, love his sci-fi stuff (Altered Carbon especially)

  • HeinzHarald #18 2 years ago

    Awesome! I own five of his books and love them. They are fast paced yet lengthy which is a good base for a game.

  • coomber #19 2 years ago

    Look forward to seeing him working on FIFA Spaceball 2011, FIFA Spaceball 2012 and FIFA Spaceball 2013.

  • HuggyAtHome #20 2 years ago

    An Altered Carbon type game would be great - Maybe EA will milk the Broken Angels/Woken Furies books too.There was quite a good premise behind Market Forces which would meld nicely with a Syndicate follow up too. Hopes.