Portalarium’s Shroud of the Avatar Releases Today

Richard Garriott’s vision of New Britannia has officially come to life with Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. Portalarium has partnered with Travian Games and Black Sun Games to release Shroud of the Avatar today, a spiritual successor to the successful Ultima/Ultima Online games, providing a persistent world with a deep story and rich role-playing character development. As an online fantasy multiplayer RPG, Shroud of the Avatar binds together many of the key features that made the Ultima series popular, including wide-reaching freedom to explore a living, breathing fantasy world enriched by a player-driven crafting and economic system; the ability to create a classless avatar allowing for distinct play styles and uniquely specialized builds; an engaging storyline written in collaboration with celebrated fantasy author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) where players are confronted with ethical choices based on Virtues and Principles and a unique shared online experience where players can opt to play solo or with friends. Players can also complete the story and explore the world offline in a stand-alone single player mode that does not require internet access.

“It’s exciting to have reached this major milestone,” said Garriott. “Our fans and backers have been extremely patient and incredibly helpful with us every step of the way of our journey. With Shroud I wanted to go back to my roots of game design. We wanted to create a rich story and also bring back a sandbox style of play…a style that’s immersive and interactive.”

What’s in store for Shroud of the Avatar’s launch? “We have focused on polishing performance and the new user experience, as well as a few surprises like a new map that was triggered by a meteor crash,” said Executive Producer Starr ‘Darkstarr’ Long. “After we launch, we’ll continue to roll out regular monthly content releases and continue to collaborate with our players to improve the gameplay. The second quarter will include new features like Castle Defense Scenarios and Looking for Group as well as new content including new scenes, new creatures, and new quests.”