Garriott says he was forced out by NCsoft

By Oli Welsh Published 7 May, 2009

Publisher pretended decision was voluntary.

Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott claims that he was forced out by former employer NCsoft, and the publisher subsequently "re-characterised" the move as voluntary.

That's according to the suit for fraud Garriott brought against the Korean company this week. Gamasutra has obtained a copy of the court filing.

The suit says that Garriott was told of the decision by phone in October 2008, while he was still in quarantine in Russia following his space flight.

In his complaint, Garriott says he "objected to his dismissal". NCsoft's US head at the time Chris Chung "insisted the decision was final -- Mr. Garriott had to go". Then, Garriott says, NCsoft internally "re-characterised" the decision as voluntary.

In November last year, Garriott's departure from NCsoft was announced as a resignation. He apparently told players that the decision was all his own.

"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," read the statement.

Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary.

Garriott's claims of fraud, to the tune of USD 24 million, rest on this accusation. He had to sell his NCsoft stock within 90 days of a voluntary resignation - whereas, if he'd been sacked, he'd have been able to hang on to them until 2011. Due to the weakness of the stock market at the time, Garriott claims this lost him millions.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Eraysor #1 3 years ago

    He could have always just made a better game in the first place.

  • kangarootoo #2 3 years ago

    "Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary."

    Make your mind up dude.

  • Olemak #3 3 years ago

    NCsoft should sue Garriot for fraud too; he was supposed to make a good space MMO for them, but instead he spent all the money on going to space himself. Tabula Rasa was crap. Lord British sitting in his space ship or in his medieval castle in Texas is so far out of touch with anything, it has become obvious that he must not be listened to or trusted or (heaven forbid) be allowed to lead a company.

    Getting rid of Garriot was the smartest thing NCsoft has done in a long time. And he should not have lied about wanting to quit in the forst place and then come back and sue. Stock prices change, dude, get over it. Sell off some of your antique suits or armours or maybe some sports cars if money's tight after blowing all that cash on the spece trip. What a moron.

  • penhalion #4 3 years ago

    Maybe Garriot just needs the money after spending such a rediculous amount on going into space. Now that he's back (physically not mentally) and no-one gives a damned that he went in the first place, he's finally realised what a stupid waste of money it was. Now it looks like he's trying to get every penny he can to save his castle.

    A fool and his money as they always say!

  • Domovoi #5 3 years ago

    Gotta love how so many commenters consider themselves so incredibly superior to Garriot. I bet he's really worked up about it too, if he has a chance to read Eurogamer comments when he's not fulfilling his lifelong dreams and doing everything he always wanted to do.
    Edited by 1 at 07/05/09 @ 11:27

  • LukeFX #6 3 years ago

    What a tit,

    Blasts 17million on a space flight while making a shite game.

  • skillian #7 3 years ago

    It's hard to feel sorry for an astronaut who made a rubbish game and then lied about resigning.

  • space_ace #8 3 years ago

    they forged his virtue

  • Figgernaggot #9 3 years ago

    I'm sniggering at these comments. Oh, Eurogamer.

  • cyacomini #10 3 years ago

    He won't see a penny - FACT

  • Xerx3s #11 3 years ago

    I DEMAND FRAUD ACTIONS!

  • kangarootoo #12 3 years ago

    "but instead he spent all the money on going to space himself"

    I don't think it was actually their cash he spent on going into space. I'm pretty sure they will all run a slightly tighter set of accounting books than that. You don't literally just get given a big bag of gold coins you know.

  • lolife.se #13 3 years ago

    Eh? To me it looks like NCsoft done him quite a favor. Quitting looks a lot better than being fired.

  • Rubarack #14 3 years ago

    Also he had to sell stock when the market was down, but he could have always took the opportunity to buy stock.

  • sam_spade #15 3 years ago

    Looks like someone thought they were onto a good thing when the stock was going up and they sold, and now the stock has shot up in price they are regreting it.

  • JammyPez #16 3 years ago

    Thing is, companies screw people over all the time. Just because he's rich it shouldn't mean he isn't entitled to some Justice.

  • optimusprym8 #17 3 years ago

    NCsoft should be the ones with the fraud case with the amount of their money he spent on far too many years of development of a shitty title. However they also should have had the balls to cancel it well before it even got near the door but then, you don't mess with Texas

  • penhalion #18 3 years ago

    @JammyPez

    I think you are assuming he is still rich. You don't stay rich by spending 17 million while having no income. Remember the IRS would have wanted to grab some tax from that. I can only imagine the tax bill he got at the end of the year.

    I recon he's doing a Jackson and now needs the cash!

  • kangarootoo #19 3 years ago

    "I think you are assuming he is still rich. You don't stay rich by spending 17 million while having no income."

    Well, you do if you have 37mil to start with. I don't know what RG has in his pocket, but he is bonkers rich and probably has plenty of income from investments without having to ever actually work again.

  • DrowJones #20 3 years ago

    Reading this article would have taken too much time and energy so I couldn't be bothered but all I'm saying that I know that EG is wrong about something near the end of the article, or maybe it was in a screen caption, I can't be arsed to check.

  • BootLace #21 3 years ago

    If the contents of the suit are truthful (you can read it over at gamepolitics.com), then to me it sounds like he has a valid claim. His current or previous wealth, his lifestyle/eccentricity and the quality of Tabula Rasa (a game that typically scored around 80% on release) have no real influence on the validity of his claim.

    "Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary."
    Make your mind up dude.

    From what I've read, he felt obliged to approve the statement in the interest of not sullying the relationship with NCsoft, in order to try and protect his share options. I feel it's probably worth noting that he was told of his "dismissal" by phone whilst he was still in quarantine from his space flight.

    Looks like someone thought they were onto a good thing when the stock was going up and they sold, and now the stock has shot up in price they are regreting it.
    A stock option is an agreement to sell shares to a party at a pre-agreed price. The shares in question were part of a 10year option used as part payment for NCsoft's acquisition of his company in 2001. The voluntary termination clause required him to exercise his options within 90days, which would have required him to purchase the shares at the agreed 2001 price or lose them.
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/09 @ 04:29

  • kangarootoo #22 3 years ago

    @BootLace

    Good link. Just had a read through, and it does indeed look like he might have a case.

  • kangarootoo #23 3 years ago

    "He won't see a penny - FACT"

    Why do people think that randomly writing fact in uppercase letters actually means their supposition is any more likely to be true. Nobody here, including me, really knows anything about the legal aspects of this case. Me and my friends used to that when we were 12 years old ffs.

    My GUESS is that he will make SOME money, via an out of court settlement. FACT.