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MMO developer Richard Garriott has insisted that the future of Shroud of the Avatar is not in doubt.
Kotaku reports that fans began to express concern when his studio Portalarium announced an additional equity crowdfunding campaign, and also revealed that it currently has $528k in the bank and monthly expenses of $230k. That’s despite having previously raised over $11.5k via Kickstarter, Early Access sales and special events.
Garriott has now said that the new funding is not an attempt to save the company from trouble, but is instead designed to help it fund marketing and perhaps even a release for the game on other platforms. He also hinted at the possibility of publishing additional titles.
We earn about the same amount as we spend every month and that has been true for the majority of the existence of this company,” Garriott told the site. We size our company based on the trend lines we see in our revenue growth. We have a great deal of comfort in saying we could continue to develop the game as a small company with a relatively small player base.
That’s how we’ve been operating for four years. We’ve been continuing to sell stuff online, periodically running telethons, and adjusting the size of our company to match the revenue from contributions. So that’s how we’ll continue.”
Shroud of the Avatar remains in Early Access and pre-alpha, despite launching two and half years ago. The Early Access period was recently extended to the end of the year, too. Steam reviews currently stand at ‘mixed’, and a lot of the recent feedback is very negative.
