Richard Garriott

Richard Allen Garriott was born in Cambridge, England on 4 July 1961,{{r|durkee19831112}}{{cite news |date=March 1986 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |title=Inside Ultima IV |pages=18–21 |url=http://cgw.vintagegaming.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227054521/http://cgw.vintagegaming.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=26 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-12-27 }} to Helen Mary ({{Nee|Walker}}) Garriott (1930–2017Garriott Family (2017-09-05). Helen Mary Walker Garriott. Enid News, 5 September 2017. Retrieved on 2020-07-04 from https://obituaries.enidnews.com/obituary/helen-mary-garriott-972976051.) and Owen Garriott, one of NASA's first scientist-astronauts (selected in NASA Astronaut Group 4), who flew on Skylab 3 and Space Shuttle mission STS-9.{{cite web|title=International Space Station|url=http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/iss18/garriott.html|access-date=2014-05-27}}{{cite web|title=Former Astronaut's Son Signs on as Next Space Tourist|url=http://www.space.com/4410-astronaut-son-signs-space-tourist.html|publisher=space.com|access-date=2014-05-27|author=Tariq Malik|date=28 September 2007}} His parents had been high school sweethearts growing up in Enid, Oklahoma.{{cite book|title=NASA's Scientist Astronauts|last1=Shayler|first1=David J.|last2=Burgess|first2=Colin|publisher=Praxis Publishing|lccn=2006930295|isbn=978-0387218977|year=2007}}{{rp|61}} Although both his parents were Americans, Garriott claims dual citizenship for both the United States and the United Kingdom by birth.

Garriott was raised in Nassau Bay, Texas from the age of about two months. Since his childhood, he had dreamed of becoming a NASA astronaut like his father. Eyesight problems discovered at the age of 13 blocked his ambition, however, so he instead came to focus on computer game development.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/nasa-said-no-my-astronaut-dream-so-i-found-another-ncna776056|title=NASA said no to my astronaut dream, so I found another way|website=NBC News|date=18 July 2017 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-16}}

Garriott's "first real exposure to computers" occurred in 1975, during his freshman year at Clear Creek High School. In search of more experience than the single one-semester BASIC class the school offered, and as a fan of The Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons, Garriott convinced the school to let him create a self-directed course in programming. He used the course to create fantasy computer games on the school's teletype machine.Official Book of Ultima by Shay Addams, pp. 3–5{{cite magazine | title=Lord British Kisses and Tells All / as told by His Royal Highness, High King of Britannia | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=July 1988 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=26 | access-date=3 November 2013 | author=Garriott, Richard | page=28}} Garriott later estimated that he wrote 28 computer fantasy games during high school.{{r|CGW}}

One of Garriott's game pseudonyms is "British", a name he still uses for various gaming characters, including Ultima character Lord British and Tabula Rasa character General British.{{cite book|title=Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic|last=King|first=Brad|author2=John Borland|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=2003|isbn=0072228881|pages=11–12}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7507052.stm|title=Private mission set for ISS|date=2008-07-15|work=BBC News|access-date=2008-11-11}} The name was given to him by his first Dungeons and Dragons friends because he was born in the UK."Richard Garriott's Ultima Story –Retro Tea Break," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU90N4Cbj10

Garriott began writing computer games in 1974. His first games were created on teletype terminals. The code was stored on paper tape spools, and the game was displayed as an ongoing print-out. In summer 1979, Garriott worked at a ComputerLand store where he first encountered Apple computers. Inspired by their video monitors with color graphics, he began to add perspective view to his own games. After he created Akalabeth for fun, the owner of the store convinced Garriott it might sell. Garriott spent $200 printing copies of a manual and cover sheet that his mother had drawn, then put copies of the game in Ziploc bags, a common way to sell software at the time. Although Garriott sold fewer than a dozen copies at the store, one copy made it to California Pacific Computer Company, which signed a deal with him. The game sold over 30,000 copies, and Garriott received five dollars for each copy sold.{{r|garriott198807}}The Official Book of Ultima, page 8{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-01-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_104_1989_Jan#page/n17/mode/2up | title=Dungeon Delving with Richard Garriott | work=Compute! | date=January 1989 | access-date=10 November 2013 | author=Ferrell, Keith | page=16}} The {{USD|150,000|1979|round=-3}} he earned was three times his father's astronaut salary.{{Cite magazine |last=Bebergal |first=Peter |title=The Computer Game That Led to Enlightenment |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-computer-game-that-led-to-enlightenment |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-us |access-date=2020-10-24}} Akalabeth is considered the first published computer role playing game.

Later that year, Garriott entered the University of Texas at Austin (UT).{{Cite web |last=Alexandra Biesada October 1996 0 |date=1996-10-01 |title=Reality Bytes |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/reality-bytes/ |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en}} He joined the school's fencing team, and later, the Society for Creative Anachronism.{{Cite book |last=Addams |first=Shay |title=The official book of Ultima |pages=14–15 |language=English}} He lived at home with his parents while attending university, and from there created Ultima I with his friend Ken Arnold.{{cite web |title=Player 4 Stage 2: "Why in the world would anyone wants a computer at home?" |url=http://www.thedoteaters.com/p4_stage2.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407080626/http://www.thedoteaters.com/p4_stage2.php |archive-date=2013-04-07 |access-date=2008-01-25}} Its cover, and those of several subsequently Garriott games, were painted by Denis Loubet, whose art Garriott discovered during a visit to Steve Jackson Games.{{cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7|page=104}}

Garriott continued to develop the Ultima series of video games in the early 1980s, eventually leaving UT to work on them full time.{{r|garriott198807}} Originally programmed for the Apple II, the Ultima series later became available on several platforms. Ultima II was published by Sierra On-Line, as they were the only company that would agree to publish it in a box together with a printed cloth map. By the time he developed Ultima III, Garriott, together with his brother Robert, their father Owen and Chuck Bueche established their own video game publisher, Origin Systems, to handle publishing and distribution, in part due to controversy with Sierra over royalties for the PC port of Ultima II.The Official Book of Ultima (second edition), page 25.{{cite web|url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/03/04/warren-spector-interviews-every-bloody-one/|title=Warren Spector Interviews Every-Bloody-One|last=Gillen|first=Kieron|date=2008-03-04|website=Rock, Paper, Shotgun|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-08}}{{cite news | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=6&id=14 | title=Profiles in Programming / Lord British | work=Softline | date=Nov–Dec 1983 | access-date=29 July 2014 | author=Durkee, David | page=26}}

The use of the term avatar for the on-screen representation of the user was coined in 1985 by Richard Garriott for the computer game Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. In this game, Garriott desired the player's character to be their Earth self manifested into the virtual world. Due to the ethical content of his story, Garriott wanted the real player to be responsible for their character; he thought only someone playing "themselves" could be properly judged based on their in-game actions. Because of its ethically nuanced narrative approach, he took the Hindu word associated with a deity's manifestation on earth in physical form, and applied it to a player in the game world.{{Cite web|url=http://www.criticalpathproject.com/video/coining-term-avatar/|title=Coining Term "Avatar"|website=insights from the greatest minds in video games.|language=en|access-date=2017-12-15}}

File:Richard garriott gdc 2018 cropped.jpg]]

Garriott sold Origin Systems to Electronic Arts (EA) in September 1992 for $30 million.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-dragons |title=Pimps and Dragons |magazine=The New Yorker |date=2001-05-28 |access-date=2014-07-29}} In 1997, he coined the term massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), giving a new identity to the nascent genre previously known as graphical MUDs.{{cite book

| last1 = Safko

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| title = The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success

| publisher = Wiley

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| isbn = 978-0-470-41155-1

| quote = Richard Garriott first coined the term MMORPG in 1997.

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| url = https://archive.org/details/socialmediabible00safk

}} In 1999 and 2000, EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online.{{cite web | url = http://movies.ign.com/articles/200/200049p1.html | title = IGN: Harry Potter LEGO Redux | author = Linder, Brian | date = 2001-05-10 | access-date = 2007-04-28}}{{cite web | url = http://archive.gamespy.com/mmog/stratics/january02/stratics25/index2.shtm| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071217225517/http://archive.gamespy.com/mmog/stratics/january02/stratics25/index2.shtm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2007-12-17 | title = When Kings Fall: Part II of II | author = Matonis, Misty | date = 2002-01-05 | access-date = 2007-04-28}} Garriott resigned from the company and formed Destination Games in April 2000 with his brother and Starr Long (the producer of Ultima Online).

Once Garriott's non-compete agreement with EA expired a year later, Destination partnered with NCSoft where Garriott acted as a producer and designer of MMORPGs. After that, he became the CEO of NCSoft Austin, also known as NC Interactive.{{cite news|title=Garriott leaving NCSoft|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2008/11/10/daily31.html|date=November 12, 2008|publisher=bizjournals.com|access-date=January 15, 2023}}

Tabula Rasa failed to generate much money during its initial release, despite its seven-year development period. On November 24, 2008, NCSoft announced that it planned to end the live service of Tabula Rasa. The servers shut down on February 28, 2009, after a period of free play from January 10 onward for existing account holders.{{cite web | url = http://eu.rgtr.com/en/news_article/an_open_letter_from_general_british| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081227034006/http://eu.rgtr.com/en/news_article/an_open_letter_from_general_british | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2008-12-27 | title = Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa – An Open Letter from General British | author = Garriott, Richard | date = 2008-11-11 | access-date = 2008-11-11}}

NCSoft fired Garriot in November 2008, but publicly claimed that he left the company voluntarily, resulting in a lawsuit against them.{{cite web | last=Purchese | first=Robert | title=Garriott: what went wrong with Tabula Rasa | website=Eurogamer.net | date=2011-12-13 | url=https://www.eurogamer.net/garriott-what-went-wrong-with-tabula-rasa | access-date=2024-03-14}}{{cite web | last=Tong-hyung | first=Kim | title=Garriott wins $28 mil. in NCsoft lawsuit | website=Korea Times | date=2010-07-30 | url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2024/03/129_70538.html | access-date=2024-03-14}} In July 2010, an Austin District Court awarded Garriott US$28 million in his lawsuit against NCSoft, finding that the company did not appropriately handle his departure in 2008. In October 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment.{{cite web |url=http://www.statesman.com/business/technology/appeals-court-upholds-garriotts-28-million-verdict-against-1933965.html |title=Appeals court upholds Garriott's $28 million verdict against NCsoft |author=Gaar, Brian |date=2011-10-25 |access-date=2011-10-31 |publisher=Austin American-Statesman |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822151726/http://www.statesman.com/business/technology/appeals-court-upholds-garriotts-28-million-verdict-against-1933965.html |archive-date=2012-08-22 }}

Garriott founded the company Portalarium in 2009, which developed Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, a spiritual successor to the Ultima series. Garriott remarked that had they been able to secure the intellectual property rights to Ultima from EA, the game could have become Ultima Online 2.{{cite web|url=http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/12/garriotts-ultimate-rpg-clearly-the-spiritual-successor-to-ult/|title=Garriott's Ultimate RPG 'clearly the spiritual successor' to Ultima|author=Jef Reahard|work=Engadget|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211022541/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/12/garriotts-ultimate-rpg-clearly-the-spiritual-successor-to-ult/|archive-date=11 December 2013|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-12-12-garriotts-ultimate-rpg-could-become-ultima-online-2|title=Garriott's Ultimate RPG could become Ultima Online 2|date=12 December 2011|work=Eurogamer.net|access-date=20 June 2015}}{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBicXY_H2-I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/jBicXY_H2-I| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=LOGIN 2011 Keynote: Richard Garriott – The Next Big Games|date=25 June 2011|work=YouTube |access-date=20 June 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xfrVUj_c0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/v4xfrVUj_c0| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Lord British shall walk the streets of Britannia again!|date=2 June 2011|work=YouTube|access-date=20 June 2015}}{{cbignore}} On March 8, 2013, Portalarium launched a Kickstarter campaign{{cite web|url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0 |title=Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter Campaign |publisher=Portalarium |date=2013-04-08 |access-date=2013-04-08}} for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues.{{cite web|url=https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/ |title=Shroud of the Avatar Home Page |publisher=Portalarium |date=2013-04-08 |access-date=2013-04-08}} An early access version of the game was released on Steam in 2014, and the game was fully released in March 2018.{{cite web | url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/11/25/shroud-of-the-avatar-released-early-access/ | title=Steaming: Shroud Of The Avatar Arrives On Early Access | work=Rock, Paper, Shotgun | first=Alice |last=O'Connor | date=2014-11-25 | access-date=2016-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0/posts/2146631|access-date=April 18, 2018|publisher=Kickstarter|title=Launch is Here!|date=March 26, 2018|author=Starr Long|author-link=Starr Long}} The game received "mixed or average" reviews from critics.{{cite web |last1=Metacritic |title=Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues/ |website=Metacritic |access-date=24 September 2024}} In October 2019, the assets and rights to Shroud of the Avatar were sold to Catnip Games, a company owned by Portalarium CEO Chris Spears.{{cite web|url=https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/catnip-games-acquires-shroud-of-the-avatar.159409/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010010927/https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/catnip-games-acquires-shroud-of-the-avatar.159409/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-10-10|title=Catnip Games Acquires Shroud of the Avatar}} Garriott is no longer associated with either company.

In April 2022 he announced he had begun working on a new fantasy MMO that uses NFT technology with long-time contributor Todd Porter.{{Cite web |title=Ultima's creator is making a new MMO, and it's built on NFTs |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/ultima-online/nft-mmo |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=PCGamesN |date=12 April 2022 |language=en-GB}} In August 2022, the game was announced as Iron and Magic.{{cite web |last1=Litchfield |first1=Ted |title=Richard Garriott's NFT MMO entreats you to 'buy land in the realm of Lord British' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/richard-garriotts-nft-mmo-entreats-you-to-buy-land-in-the-realm-of-lord-british/ |website=PC Gamer |publisher=Future plc |access-date=16 August 2022 |date=15 August 2022}} However, in May 2023, it was reported that the game's official website has vanished and its Facebook page has lain dormant since September 2022, leading to many speculations regarding the status of the game.{{cite web |last1=Lefebvre |first1=Eliot |title=Richard Garriott's NFT-based MMO, Iron & Magic, appears to have vanished already |url=https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/26/richard-garriotts-nft-based-mmo-iron-magic-appears-to-have-vanished-already/ |website=Massively Overpowered |date=26 May 2023 |access-date=26 December 2023}}

In 1983, Softline reported that "Garriott wants to go into space but doesn't see it happening in the predictable future ... He has frequently joked with his father about stowing away on a spaceship, and recently his speculations have been sounding uncomfortably realistic". The income from the success of Garriott's video game career allowed him to pursue his interest in spaceflight. After the sale of Origin Systems, he invested in Space Adventures and purchased a ticket to become the first private citizen to fly into space. Due to financial setbacks in 2001 after the dot-com bubble burst, however, he was forced to sell his seat to Dennis Tito.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hakSN70_VWk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/hakSN70_VWk| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=The Moth and the World Science Festival Present Richard Garriott: The Overview Effect |publisher=YouTube |date=2011-12-15 |access-date=2013-03-08}}{{cbignore}}

Garriott then returned to creating games; once he had accumulated sufficient funds, he put down another non-refundable deposit. During his mandatory medical examination a hemangioma was discovered on his liver, which could cause potentially fatal internal bleeding in the event of a rapid spacecraft depressurization. Given the choice of forfeiting his deposit or undergoing surgical removal of the angioma, he decided to have the surgery.

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On September 28, 2007, Space Adventures announced that Garriott would fly to the International Space Station in October 2008 as a self-funded Private Astronaut at a reported cost of $30 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceadventures.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.viewnews&newsid=554|title=Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation Astronaut |access-date=October 12, 2008|publisher=Space Adventures, Ltd. |year=2008|author=Space Adventures, Ltd. }} On October 12, 2008, after a year of training in Russia, Garriott became the second second-generation space traveler (after Sergei Volkov),{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/topstories/2008-10-12-4272284269_x.htm|title=US game designer blasts into space with DNA cargo|date=October 12, 2008|access-date=June 2, 2011|publisher=USA Today|author=Peter Leonard for The Associated Press}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25935535|title=Space tourist will pay high price for adventure|access-date=October 12, 2008|publisher=NBC News|year=2008|author=Marcia Dunn for The Associated Press}} the first offspring of an American astronaut to go into space,{{cite web|url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/10/soyuz-tma-13-set-to-launch-trio-to-iss/|title=Soyuz TMA-13 launches trio on journey to the ISS|access-date=October 12, 2008|publisher=NASA Spaceflight.com|year=2008|author=Chris Bergin}} and the second person to wear the British Union flag in space.{{cite news|url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/how-to-go-to-space|title=Want to go to space? Here's how you can|author=Ezzy Pearson |date=4 November 2020 |access-date=16 March 2025}} His father, Owen Garriott, was at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch, and was in attendance when he landed safely twelve days later, along with Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko.{{cite web|title=Successful Lift Off For US Space Tourist – Space News – redOrbit|date=12 October 2008|url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1586145/successful_lift_off_for_us_space_tourist/|publisher=redorbit.com|access-date=27 May 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7688021.stm|title=Soyuz space capsule lands safely|publisher=BBC | date=October 24, 2008}}{{cite news|title=American, Russians return from space|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/american-russians-return-from-space-1.740806|date=October 24, 2008|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=January 15, 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13204951&PageNum=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227065328/http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13204951&PageNum=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 December 2008|title=ITAR-TASS|access-date=20 June 2015}}

File:WinEarth screen Peru coast.png, used by Garriott on ISS to identify targets for Earth photography (Coast of Peru).]]

During his spaceflight, Garriott took part in several education outreach efforts. The free Metro newspaper in London provided him with a special edition containing details of British primary school students' space experiment concepts that Garriott took to the ISS. The Metro has claimed, as a result, that it was the first newspaper in space.{{cite web|title=Metro is the first paper in space|url=http://metro.co.uk/2008/10/12/metro-space-newspaper-richard-garriott-cosmonaut-nasa-astronaut-23767/|website=Metro|date=12 October 2008}}{{cite web|last1=Greenslade|first1=Roy|title=Metro is 'first newspaper in space'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2008/oct/13/pressandpublishing2|website=Guardian|date=13 October 2008|publisher=Guardian, London}} He communicated with students and other Amateur Radio operators and transmitted photographs using the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) slow-scan television system,{{cite news|url=http://www.southgatearc.org/news/september2008/richard_garriott_on_iss.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008023421/http://www.southgatearc.org/news/september2008/richard_garriott_on_iss.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-10-08|title=Richard Garriott on ISS|author=Frank H. Bauer|publisher=Southgate Amateur Radio Club|date=2008-09-19|access-date=2008-10-07}} and placed a geocache while aboard the ISS.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1BE91|title=International Space Station Traditional Geocache}}

Garriott worked with the Windows on Earth project, which provides an interactive, virtual view of Earth as seen from the ISS.{{cite web|url=http://winearth.terc.edu/garriott_mission/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227034301/http://winearth.terc.edu/garriott_mission/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 27, 2008|title=Richard Garriott's Mission in October, 2008|access-date=October 12, 2008|publisher=Technical Education Research Centers|year=2008|author=TERC}} Garriott used Windows on Earth software to assist in the selection of locations on Earth to photograph, and the public were able to use the same online tool to track the ISS and see the view Garriott was experiencing. Garriott's photographs, along with images taken by his astronaut father Owen Garriott in 1973, will be available to the public through Windows on Earth, adding a personal element to studies of Earth and how Earth has changed over time.

Garriott covertly smuggled a portion of the ashes of Star Trek actor James Doohan on a laminated card, which he placed under the floor cladding of the ISS's Columbus module. This action was kept secret until Christmas Day 2020 when Doohan's son made the fact public on his Twitter account. At the time of the reveal, Doohan's ashes had orbited the Earth more than 70,000 times and traveled more than 1.7 billion miles.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/ashes-of-star-treks-scotty-smuggled-on-to-international-space-station-6lpgs05n6 | title=Ashes of Star Trek's Scotty smuggled on to International Space Station|work=The Times |access-date=2021-10-04 | last1=Miami| first1=Jacqui Goddard}}

Garriott's film Apogee of Fear was the first ever fictional (short) film fully filmed in space (whereas Return from Orbit was only partially filmed in space).{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/525002-nasas-international-space-station-is-about-to-become-a-film-location |title=The Hill|date=8 November 2020}} Tracy Hickman wrote the screenplay.{{cite web|url=http://www.nathanshumate.com/?p=2092 |title=LTUE, Day 2. |publisher=Tachyon City (Nathan Shumate) |access-date=2009-02-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714155155/http://www.nathanshumate.com/?p=2092 |archive-date=2011-07-14 }}

In 2010 he was featured in a documentary, Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott's Road to the Stars, which covered his spaceflight training and mission into orbit.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/01/13/145056834/in-astro-dads-footsteps-a-sons-mission-to-space |title=In Astro-Dad's Footsteps: A Son's 'Mission' To Space |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |publisher=NPR |date=2012-01-13 |access-date=2021-06-10 }}

File:Richard Garriott 2022 Manhattan jeh.jpg

In January 2021, Garriott was elected president of The Explorers Club.{{cite web|url=https://www.explorers.org//news/news_detail/richard-garriott-elected-45th-president-of-the-explorers-club|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913150931/https://explorers.org/news/news_detail/richard-garriott-elected-45th-president-of-the-explorers-club|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2021|title=Richard Garriott Elected 45th President of The Explorers Club|access-date=3 Mar 2021}}

In February 2021, Garriott traveled to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest oceanic trench on the planet.{{cite web

| last1 = Lines

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| title = Cambridge astronaut to become first Brit to go to space and travel to bottom of the ocean

| publisher = CamrbidgeshireLive

| date = February 12, 2021

| url = https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/cambridge-astronaut-become-first-brit-19828829

| accessdate = June 25, 2021 }}{{cite web

| title = Richard Garriot: Adventurer dives to deepest part of ocean

| publisher = BBC

| date = March 5, 2021

| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56281364

| accessdate = June 25, 2021 }} While there, as well as performing scientific duties, he placed a geocache and recorded another short sci-fi film. This made him the holder of both altitude and depth records for these activities.{{cite news|last = Pearlman | first = Robert | title = Q&A: Private astronaut Richard Garriott set to dive to lowest point on Earth | newspaper = Space.com|date = February 26, 2021| url = https://www.space.com/space-tourist-richard-garriott-visiting-mariana-trench | accessdate = June 25, 2021 }}{{cite news|title=Richard Garriott makes history with Marianas Trench dive|first1=Mark|last1=Evans|url=https://www.scubadivermag.com/richard-garriott-makes-history-with-marianas-trench-dive/|date=March 2, 2021|publisher=ScubaDiverMag.com|access-date=January 15, 2023}}

In 1986, Garriott helped start the Challenger Center for Space Science Education with his high school science teacher, June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger Shuttle Commander Dick Scobee, who piloted the ill-fated STS-51-L mission. Scobee Rodgers drew on Garriott's early leadership in gaming to help design what have become approximately 50 global interactive networked facilities, where students perform simulated space missions.[http://www.spaceadventures.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.viewnews&newsid=599 Challenger Center / Space Adventures Announcement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812015401/http://www.spaceadventures.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.viewnews&newsid=599 |date=2014-08-12 }}

Garriott bought the Luna 21 lander and the Lunokhod 2 rover (both currently on the lunar surface) from the Lavochkin Association for $68,500 in December 1993 at a Sotheby's auction in New York.{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/1994/apr/thebloconthebloc363|title=The Bloc on the Block|work=Discover Magazine|access-date=20 June 2015}} (The catalog incorrectly lists lot 68A as Luna 17/Lunokhod 1.Sotheby's Catalogue – Russian Space History, Addendum, Lot 68A, December 11, 1993) Garriott notes that while UN treaties ban governmental ownership of property on other celestial bodies, corporations and private citizens retain such rights. Lunokhod 2 is still in use, with mirrors aligned to reflect lasers such that precise Earth-Moon distances can be measured. With his vehicle still in use, Garriott claims property rights to the territory surveyed by Lunokhod 2. This may be the first valid claim for private ownership of extraterrestrial territory.{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/8073-privately-owned-soviet-moon-rover-sparks-space-law-talks.html|title=Privately Owned Soviet Moon Rover Sparks Space Law Talks|work=Space.com|date=22 March 2010|access-date=20 June 2015}} Lunokhod 2 held the record for distance traveled on the surface of another planetary body until it was surpassed by NASA's Opportunity Rover in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/187076-mars-rover-opportunity-breaks-longest-off-earth-driving-record-finally-beating-the-speed-freak-russians|title=Mars rover Opportunity breaks longest off-Earth driving record, finally beating the speed freak Russians – ExtremeTech|work=ExtremeTech|date=29 July 2014 |access-date=20 June 2015}}

From 1988 to 1994 Garriott built a haunted house/museum every other year at Britannia Manor, his residence in Austin, Texas. Garriott's haunted houses cost tens of thousands of dollars to create each year and took many months and a sizable team to construct, yet were free to the public.{{cite magazine|title = Garriott's House of Horror|date = April 1991|url = https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-31/page/n37|magazine = The One|publisher = emap Images|issue = 31|page = 38}}

Garriott promotes private space flight and served as vice-chairman of the board of directors for Space Adventures. He is also a trustee of the X PRIZE Foundation.{{cite web|url=http://www.xprize.org/about/board-of-trustees|title=Board Of Trustees|work=XPRIZE|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=5 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805231226/http://www.xprize.org/about/board-of-trustees|url-status=dead}}

Garriott participated in the first zero gravity wedding on June 20, 2009, with his wife Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux.{{cite journal

| journal = New York Daily News

|date=3 June 2009

| title = So in love they could float away: Brooklyn couple to wed in zero gravity

| last = Boyle

| first = Christina

| url = http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/06/03/2009-06-03_so_in_love_they_could_float_away_bklyn_couple_to_wed_in_zero_gravity.html

}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.space.com/6871-ny-couple-hitched-gravity.html|title=NY Couple Gets Hitched in Zero Gravity|work=Space.com|access-date=2018-01-08}} The wedding took place in a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, G-Force One, operated by a company Garriott co-founded, Zero Gravity Corporation.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE55J22620090621|title=Couple floats into zero gravity nuptials|work=Reuters|date=21 June 2009|access-date=20 June 2015|last1=Ebenhack|first1=Phelan M.}}

Garriott wrote a memoir (with David Fisher) covering his accomplishments in games publishing and spaceflight, entitled Explore/Create: My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds, and the Creative Spark. It was published on January 10, 2017.{{cite web|title=Review: Explore/Create|first1=Jeff |last1=Foust|date=January 23, 2017|url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3150/1|publisher=The Space Review|access-date=January 15, 2023}}

Garriott was the inspiration for the character James Halliday in Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.{{cite web|url=https://ultimacodex.com/2018/05/in-case-you-didnt-know-richard-garriott-was-the-inspiration-for-ready-player-ones-james-halliday/ |title=Ultima Codex 'In case you didn't know...'|date=30 May 2018}}

• Garriott was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1992.{{Cite news|url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/19921201/6146.html|title=Regional Entrepreneurs of the Year|date=1992-12-01|work=Inc.com|access-date=2018-01-08|language=en}}
• Garriott became the ninth inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.interactive.org/special_awards/details.asp?idSpecialAwards=1|title=Special Awards Details Page|last=Sciences|first=Academy of Interactive Arts &|website=www.interactive.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-08}}
• Garriott became the sixth recipient of the Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/pr/pr_2006_0309.htm|title=Game Developers Choice Awards|website=www.gamechoiceawards.com|access-date=2018-01-08}}
• Garriott received the British Interplanetary Society's Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Best Individual Achievement in 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.bis-space.com/what-we-do/honours-and-awards/arthurs/|title=Honours and Awards|website=www.bis-space.com|publisher=British Interplanetary Society|language=en-GB|access-date=2023-01-15}}
• Garriott received the British Interplanetary Society's Astronaut Pin given to British-born astronauts in 2009.
• Garriott was inducted into the Environmental Hall of Fame in 2010.[http://environmentalhalloffame.net/gg/RichardGarriottEnvironmentalist.pdf Richard Garriott, Environmentalist] from Environmental Hall of Fame

• List of people who descended to Challenger Deep

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category|Richard Garriott}}

• {{Official website|1=http://www.richardgarriott.com}}
• {{IMDb name|id=0308367}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205060159/http://winearth.terc.edu/ Windows on Earth]

{{Origin Systems}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garriott, Richard}}

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