Shroud of the Avatar will focus on what made his seminal Ultima series great. Players will be introduced to the game, but then discover their own story. There is an overarching story woven into the player experience, and players may choose to follow the life of the adventurer or, if they prefer, focus on exploration and discovery. Players may even choose the life of a homesteader, either safely within the settled lands or on the dangerous but potentially lucrative frontier. The world is full of opportunities and challenges!

From familiar psychological profiling used to create your character to organically derived game response to player behavior, fundamental virtues and consequence of actions play a huge role in Shroud of the Avatar. Players will be free to choose their path, but must then live with the consequences of their actions.

Shroud of the Avatar will be a PC product available via digital download with episodic content available later for a charge. The game is being built to be enjoyed as a solo experience but it will also contain a persistent world where you can meet and share your experiences with friends both old and new.

Today Shroud of the Avatar, from legendary game designer Richard Garriott, goes live on Steam Early Access, giving players the chance to try out games as they evolve.

For most of 2014, the game has evolved with content updates one weekend every month. The latest update, Release 12, will be available to Steam Early Access subscribers today. With this update the game is now available 24/7 (except for planned downtimes). There are currently two ways to access SotA…through Steam Early Access or via Shroud of the Avatar’s regular game client, or both.

“We are excited to be pushing the doors wide-open to Shroud of the Avatar,” said Creative Director Richard Garriott. “When we applied for Early Access for the game, we received our green light in less than three days. In fact Steam players gave the OK with an 86 percent approval rating. What they’ll find is a fantasy RPG that harkens back to my earlier games in the genre, but with modern day technology that combines a single player narrative with an Ultima-like sandbox MMO.”

Release 12 provides several new features to fans and backers of Shroud of the Avatar, including:

• An in-game hint system and New User Experience
• More than 15 new skills
• More than 50 new weapon and armor crafting recipes
• 40 new songs (all crowd sourced by players)
• Skill Trainers – When a player levels up they’ll now have to go to trainers to unlock skills
• New Maps – Ravenswood Forest, Tower of the Shuttered Eye
• The Overworld Map now has polished visuals and random encounters
• Guilds
• Open PVP flags
• The death system now includes being transformed into a ghost when you die
• Alien FX support for Alienware keyboards and cases

And that’s not all. Over the past two months several other features have been released in Shroud of the Avatar, including:

• New Scenes – Solace Bridge, Kobold Battle Camp, Swamps, Obsidian Keep, Vertas Pass, The Challenge Dungeon
• Character advancement
• More than 40 new spells and skills in Death Magic, Armor, and Ranged Weapons
• Control points
• Spectator mode in PVP arenas
• Multiple character creation options including detailed customization of facial features (eyes, cheeks, jaw, chin, nose, ears, etc.)
• PVP duels
• Pet commands

Also this month, fans and backers of the game will celebrate SotA’s $5 million crowd funding milestone and the Steam Early Access launch with a special Cyber Monday event on December 1 (that also marks the end of the current 15% purchase bonus program). The development team will hold several live stream events (Google+ Hangouts) to discuss Shroud and they’ll be awarding many prizes to registered entrants, including items from SotA’s hardware partners. Prizes will include:

• An Alienware desktop
• Alienware mouse & headset
• Plantronics headsets and earbuds
• Add on store credits
• Access to Release 13 in December