What if Ultima Online was never made? => Windows not a gaming platform

[xTh]

Ultima Online was the first MMORPG, which laid the groundwork for a lot of future games. It pioneered lots of things which I cannot list because I was not present at the time. But an important thing: if there was no Ultima Online, there would be no DirectX. Then you'd have, what, Intel graphics drivers? Windows would be sooo much worse for gaming.

I'm hoping those more knowledgable than I can chime in, because I missed that section of video gaming history. Anyone got some interesting interviews or books that were released after the fact?

 

[David Floyd]

Well, Richard Garriott was definitely a visionary, but I also can’t believe that nobody else would have come up with a similar concept. As for DirectX, well, I was alive and actively gaming at the time (I remember the days of Wing Commander, Monkey Island, X-Wing, Warcraft and Civilization with fond nostalgia - yes, I’m a bit older lol) and can tell you that I am CERTAIN there still would have been a drive to improve graphics in PC gaming.

 

[Nivek]

Well, Richard Garriott was definitely a visionary, but I also can’t believe that nobody else would have come up with a similar concept. As for DirectX, well, I was alive and actively gaming at the time (I remember the days of Wing Commander, Monkey Island, X-Wing, Warcraft and Civilization with fond nostalgia - yes, I’m a bit older lol) and can tell you that I am CERTAIN there still would have been a drive to improve graphics in PC gaming.

https://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/world-12-online/ Ultima online influence windows more than people know about