Famed game designer Richard Garriott is about to bring back his "Lord British" gaming alter-ego in an upcoming social networking game from his new company Portalarium. Gamasutra is reporting that the game has the working title Lord British's New Britannia. Garriott's nickname turned into a game character when he appeared as "Lord British" inside Ultima Online, the MMO he created in 1997 for Origins Systems. He retained the trademark rights to the name even after he left Origin.

There isn't a release date yet nor much in terms of details about what Lord British's New Britannia will be like. Garriott and Portalarium are currently seeking about $3.8 million in funding at the SXSW Accelerator event in Austin, Texas. Portalarium is also working on another game, Ultimate Collector, which Gamasutra says will tie into a TV series that will be hosted by Garriott. It will be released sometime in the second quarter of 2011.