Richard Garriott’s Shroud of the Avatar gets publishing help from Travian Games

Shroud of the Avatar has been chugging along in its Early Access testing state since 2013 as Richard “Lord British” Garriott’s gang at Portalarium heads toward a planned 2017 release. And now the modern embodiment of his landmark Ultima role-playing game series has some new help for overseas publishing — along with a complete story.

The Austin, Texas-based game studio announced today that Germany’s Travian Games will handle publishing duties for Shroud of the Avatar in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, and North Africa. The company is self-publishing in North America. The deal not only helps Portalarium distribute Shroud but maybe even pushes the project over the finishing line, as Garriott had to turn back to the crowdfunding spigot back in June.