In the official forum of the MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar, publisher Travian Games surprisingly announced the shutdown of the game’s official website.
Currently, events surrounding the MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar (SotA) are unfolding rapidly. After layoffs, the introduction of an optional subscription, and the announcement of Episode 2, publisher Travian Games has now announced the shutdown of the game’s website.
Major upheavals at SotA
Travian’s SotA website will be shut down. The website shroudoftheavatar.game is being shut down. This was a website operated by Travian Games rather than the developer studio Portalarium. All European players were redirected to this website.
- The purpose of the website was to provide European players with tailored offers regarding SotA
- Prices were also to be adjusted to the European market
- Portalarium’s news was to be prepared for the official website
- It was planned to host its own promotions and events and promote them via shroudoftheavatar.game
The website shroudoftheavatar.game will now be shut down on July 16. Then, SotA players will return to using the regular site of Portalarium.
Player migration will not take place. There was to be a migration of European players to the system of Travian Games a few months ago. All data would have been transferred to Travian. European players would have used the new website and benefited from its promotions, and Travian Games would have become the point of contact for support. None of this will now take place. Travian also stated that all previously transferred data of all players will be deleted from the system.
What is the relationship between Travian and Portalarium?
Is the cooperation between Travian and Portalarium in jeopardy? The question arises why this migration is not taking place and the website is being shut down. Does Travian Games want to withdraw from cooperation with Portalarium? Shroud of the Avatar is not performing particularly well. Player numbers are declining, many employees have been laid off due to the financial situation, and the game is facing heavy criticism. All this negativity can also affect the image of Travian Games.
However, it was recently stated that cooperation between the two companies might be expanded later this year. The current situation suggests otherwise, especially since there was no response to direct inquiries about the status of cooperation in the official forum.
Portalarium and data protection. A problem could now arise for the developer studio Portalarium. The company now has to take care of implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) itself. This is costly and time-consuming. Ragnarok Online closed its international version due to GDPR. The online shooters Mirage: Arcane Warfare and Loadout were also shut down due to the General Data Protection Regulation. For smaller studios, the effort and costs to implement the new regulation are simply not viable. How Portalarium plans to manage this remains unclear.
