Tabula Rasa will sell one million

By Robert Purchese Published 22 February, 2007

At least, reckons Garriott.

Richard Garriott's been spouting off about his new online project Tabula Rasa, which he thinks will sell at least one million when it's released towards the end of the year.

He doesn't believe any one MMO has yet hit market saturation, and believes his game has the potential to beat even the biggest titles currently on the market.

"I've never speculated about whether we can beat WoW and, in fact, that's not really our goal," Garriott recently told The Hollywood Reporter. "I definitely think it has that potential, but whether we will go from the ones of millions to the tens of millions, well, the fickle public is a really hard thing to predict."

For him, online gaming appeals to players for its social interaction, and to publishers for its continual revenue from subscription fees, something Garriott has decided to use for Tabula Rasa.

The game is in development at Garriott's Destination Games, which was recently bought by NC Soft, and is an online adventure that will try to blend the fast-paced action of first-person shooters with the traditional fantasy-values of MMOs.

He reckons developers are starting to move away from the well-worn mould of elves, magic, and dragons, into a new era where games can replicate the excitement and dynamic content of single-player games.

"I do believe that 'Tabula Rasa' represents a radical step forward because it drops you into a world that is dynamic and exciting throughout," he believes. "The winner in the competition for the next-generation MMOG will be the developer who can create a game with the same real tension and excitement that solo-player games offer."

"The worlds are going to become far more realistic and interactive and responsive to your presence. I believe we are scratching the surface even now and that this will fully blossom in the next two years or so."

Catch up with our interview with Richard Garriott elsewhere on the site, or head over to the game's website for more information.

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 (25) Latest comment 5 years ago

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  • kangarootoo #1 5 years ago

    "I've never speculated about whether we can beat WoW and, in fact, that's not really our goal"

    Well no, because goals should be achievable surely.

  • faselei #2 5 years ago

    A million is perfectly plausable, for a start it isn't the old fantasy formula, which should help.

  • mkreku #3 5 years ago

    If the game is anything like Garriott has described it, then I'm sure it has the potential to sell a million. But some people call that kind of talk "hype", and it's seldom realized in the actual product..

  • kangarootoo #4 5 years ago

    Of course I am being my typical grumpy cynical self.

    I actually really like Garriot's past works, even if he does insist on "appearing" in them :).

    A few less cloak based MMOs would be great, and he does generally do pretty good stuff, so hopefully the move to online won't lose any wheels or anything.

  • kangarootoo #5 5 years ago

    @mkreku

    Actually, compared to some of the people in this business (PM to name one), Garriot is pretty good regards not spouting off madly about stuff that never surfaces. Its all just marketing really, like you say.

  • crazyhorse174 #6 5 years ago

    Gariott is still alive? Wow (excuse the pun) wonders will never cease...

    Seriously though - and I've vented this a few times before - no more MMO's...please!

  • samk #7 5 years ago

    Tabula...what? Never heard of it before.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #8 5 years ago

    I like Richard Garriott, he puts people in space, quite literally.

  • ZuluHero #9 5 years ago

    well going on what i've seen so far, he's got one sale here...

    ...only another 999,999 to go now Richard :)

  • UncleLou #10 5 years ago

    /bows out of respect for Lord British

  • spaceman #11 5 years ago

    the fickle public?

    /angry

  • shamblemonkee #12 5 years ago

    "He reckons developers are starting to move away from the well-worn mould of elves, magic, and dragons, into a new era where games can replicate the excitement and dynamic content of single-player games."

    -----

    'bout bloody time too!

  • The-Bodybuilder #13 5 years ago

    >"He reckons developers are starting to move away from the well-worn mould of elves, magic, and dragons,"

    This has been the biggest barrier that stopped MMOs from truly reaching the masses. The vast majority do not like goblins, elves, robes with wizard hats, and casting level 7 meige spell on people.

    And don't say WOW is mainstream (especially compared to GTA. Where mothers even know about it). All WOW proves is that thier are a lot of old school nerds out there who loved D&D as kids.

  • smelly #14 5 years ago

    Lord British (Richard Garriott) is my hero.

    .. shame he keeps insisting on doing mmo's as opposed to single player rpgs (which he's best at)

  • spongebob #15 5 years ago

    This reminds me of those scenes in Austin Powers movies where Dr. Evil asks for "one million dollars", throws back his head and laughs for minutes.

  • smelly #16 5 years ago

    "But some people call that kind of talk "hype", and it's seldom realized in the actual product.. "

    This is richard garriott.. not peter molyneux.. I have faith...

  • ph101 #17 5 years ago

    Looks promising. He's saying all the things I want to hear from an MMO developer. It's sci fi. It has elements of FPS style play. Sure there may be some hype to this but of all the MMO's in development this has my interest by a long long way. It's addressing the fundamental problem with mmo's - interactivity. IMO it's time MMO's go to the next gen, and if they do, I might consider signing up to one...
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/07 @ 19:35

  • Gurrah #18 5 years ago

    First off - I love GuildWars. Now to get down to business. Tabula Rasa looks EXACTLY like GuildWars in a Sci-Fi setting - exactly. The FPS portion of the game Garriott is refering to looks like click'n'prey, not like active aim'n'shoot gameplay. Maybe that's not the case but that's sure what it looks like from the videos and screenshots. Who knows, GW in a Sci-Fi setting might be fun but it's nothing new.

  • smelly #19 5 years ago

    TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE name for said game thouhg.. instantly forgetable!

    Sort it out lord brit!

  • AOFanboi #20 5 years ago

    Guild Wars in a Sci-fi setting? That would be Phantasy Star Online/Universe.

    Tabula Rasa might sell a million, but in order to do so they have to ACTUALLY FINISH IT AND RELEASE IT! Which they so far have failed to do.

  • Quine #21 5 years ago

    Meh. Does it still have auto-aim?

  • smelly #22 5 years ago

    @AOFanboi : I will not have a bad word said against lord british... So please take that back :-)


    .. that's like slagging of myamato

  • BrokenSymmetry #23 5 years ago

    It may be sad (but true), but I think MMO will forever be tied to the fanatasy genre. This year, the winners among the new MMO games will probably be Lord of the Rings Online, and Warhammer Online, and I don't see much room for a lot of other new MMOs...

  • SpeedyThing #24 5 years ago

    I'm sorry but if he wants it to do well the first thing he needs to do is change the damn name!!! Tabula Rasa?? I can just see it languishing in the shop corner next to Arcanum : Of Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura

  • vanitees #25 5 years ago

    Been following the long TR story because it reminds so much of the movie "Heaven's Gate" that could never get finished--I think TR may well be the most expensive game from start to release, ever. Auto Assault just took a coupla years, and NCSoft had to write off a $14M loss. This game will eat up seven years of development, 2000-2007, one do-over...I'm thinking it'll cost $40M by release date. Those poor Koreans. Can't find what TR costs as to right now, but a couple years ago they said $25M.

    NcSoft profits from 05 to 06 went down by almost half. Jake Song created Lineage, their real moneymaker, and the Austin boychild ran him off...