EA Manchester

Origin Systems, known for creating classics like Wing Commander and Ultima, faced financial pressure in the late 1980s due to rising development costs and the increasingly high standards of the gaming industry. To fund the development of more sophisticated titles, they sold to Electronic Arts (EA) in 1992. Origin’s acquisition by EA, however, was fraught with creative and ideological clashes. Richard Garriott, Origin’s founder, viewed EA as a necessary but disliked partner, and it showed in in-game references like villains styled after EA’s executives in Ultima VII.

Around this time, Origin launched into the development of Privateer II: The Darkening, a space trade and combat game that carried the Wing Commander legacy into new territory. Although Origin’s own resources were stretched, EA’s investment allowed Origin to start production on ambitious projects like Privateer II, which relied heavily on higher budgets and technical advancements enabled by EA’s funding. Despite internal tensions, EA’s support was crucial in bringing Privateer II to completion and fostering Origin’s broader catalogue.

Privateer II: The Darkening was a landmark project that marked the early convergence of cinema and video games. Developed in the mid-1990s by EA and Origin Games, this ambitious title featured over 30 renowned actors, including Clive Owen, John Hurt, and David Warner, bringing a Hollywood-level cinematic experience to the gaming world. Filmed at the iconic Pinewood Studios, the game combined live-action sequences with innovative 3D models and immersive gameplay.

As one of the earliest members of the development team, I was responsible for creating much of the 3D art used in both the in-game environments and the cinematic segments. This was a massive undertaking at the time, as we were navigating uncharted territory, merging real-time 3D with interactive movie storytelling.

The game’s futuristic world and branching narrative offered players a vast, open-ended universe to explore, making it one of the most ambitious interactive movie games of its era. This project, which started in a small house in Cheadle, Manchester, became a defining moment in my career and the evolution of narrative-driven gaming.