Game designer Richard Garriott won the lawsuit against his former employer NCsoft. He sued the company for mischaracterizing his departure from the company. NCsoft representatives stated that the game designer had left voluntarily, while Richard Garriott declared he was fired.

Richard Garriott filed the lawsuit because he was forced to exercise his stock options. Under his contract, in the case of voluntary departure, he was obligated to sell his stocks within 90 days. In the case he was fired, he would have had years to exercise his options.

The trial took place at U.S. District Court in Austin. Thursday afternoon the jury deliberated for three hours. Richard Garriott asked for $47 million, stating that this amount would cover his loss. In the end, Garriott received $28 million. “I am extremely pleased with the jury’s decision.” The game designer also stated that, “The facts were clear that my departure from NCsoft was not voluntary. I am very pleased with the final award.”

According to the news in the Statesman, NCsoft legal representative, Laura Merritt, declared that they, ”will be considering all options for next steps in the legal process.” The legal entanglement started when Richard Garriott left aboard a Russian rocket to space. His attorneys declared that the trip was made to accomplish a childhood dream and to promote the game Tabula Rasa – a space-themed game. NCsoft representatives felt that the trip didn’t have a business nature, and it was done only for his benefit . The MMORPG ( Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ), Tabula Rasa, was cancelled last year.