Shroud of the Avatar
Setting: Fantasy / MMORPG | Developer: Portalarium / Catnip | Platform: PC | Status: Released on March 27, 2018 | Year of Campaign: 2013 | Funds raised via Kickstarter: $1,919,275 | Backers: 22,322
When a certain Lord British launched a Kickstarter campaign with his new studio Portalarium to develop a new MMORPG, he was able to attract even more backers than Mark Jacobs with Camelot Unchained – although ultimately he raised somewhat less money.
The reason is likely clear: Behind Lord British is Richard Garriott, the creator of the popular Ultima role-playing series, which includes Ultima Online, one of the most important and influential 3D MMORPGs in the history of the genre. Accordingly, the ambitions were correspondingly high.
With Shroud of the Avatar, Lord British aimed to restore the former glory of MMORPGs. He was not impressed by newer titles like SWTOR or Guild Wars 2, which catered too much to casual gamers. His new game should be less linear, contain less mindless grinding, and above all, refocus on role-playing.
You should be able to write your own story as a merchant, crafter, collector, or adventurer. A story, mind you, with tricky decisions that have consequences. This includes elements known from Ultima Online such as the absence of classes and housing, complemented by a modern action combat system.
During the development, additional crowdfunding rounds increased the budget to even $15 million. And from March 2015, there was a playable Early Access version. But unfortunately, the good news stops there.
Shroud of the Avatar could never achieve even close to the quality needed to compete with the strong genre competition. Additionally, many promises were not kept, and there were even issues with backer rewards, which turned many supporters against the team.
At the final release on March 27, 2018, hardly anyone was still interested in Shroud of the Avatar. The all-time high on Steam is just 624 simultaneous active players (via steamdb.info). Due to its own launcher, this is not the total number, but it is nevertheless considered a disappointment.
The final straw was when the game, along with its rights and assets, was sold to another studio. Richard Garriott had not been involved in the development for quite some time by that point. For those who want to read all the details, check this out: Legendary MMORPG developer raised $15 million from his fans – Built a game that disappointed everyone
