Richard Garriot's new social game is a "spritual successor" to past work

Richard Garriott, creator of the popular RPG series Ultima, claims that his new social gaming project can be viewed as a spritual successor to his previous works.

Speaking in an interview with Gather Your Party, Garriot explained how its new social project may be appealing to Ultima Online fans

"For us it's a stepping stone. It's an MMO-lite in my mind. Very lite, with more what I will call classical leveraging of casual game mechanics than you will probably see in the RPG, but compared to most casual games, to most social games, it is far deeper," Garriott explains.

However, he's well aware of the doubts created in the minds of Ultima Online fans and MMORPG enthusiasts in general as a result of his decision to enter the realm of social gaming.

"Newness is fraught with a certain kind of risk, distrust and lack of understanding," Garriott said.

"I think what I'm building now is the spiritual successor of my previous work."

Garriot's first social gaming title Ultimate Collector: Garage Sale will be out on various platforms near the end of 2012.