I received a press release from David Swofford, publicist for Richard Garriott and Portalarium, this morning:

Portalarium Closes $7 Million Series A Round
m8 Capital Leads Round for Austin-Based Mobile and Social Game Company led by Legendary Designer Richard Garriott de Cayeux

AUSTIN, Texas, July 10, 2012 — Portalarium^™, an Austin-based publisher and developer of premium quality games for mobile platforms and social networks announces the closing of its Series A financing. The $7 million round is led by m8 Capital, a London-based venture capital firm focusing on mobile technology investments. FF Angel of San Francisco, BHV Venture Capital of New York, and Portalarium co-founder Zynga, the world’s largest mobile/social gaming platform, that Portalarium will be joining the new Zynga Platform Partners publishing program with products to be announced later.

About Portalarium
Portalarium is revolutionizing role-playing games for mobile and social media platforms. Formed in September of 2009 in Austin, Texas, Portalarium is developing and publishing premium online games and virtual worlds for mobile platforms and popular social networks. Portalarium games maximize the fun and social play experience between friends, making it is easy to find each other and play together regardless of where you are or what you are playing. For more information about Portalarium, go to www.portalarium.com.

About m8 Capital
m8 Capital is a London-based VC fund that invests exclusively in mobile technology. m8 Capital looks to support entrepreneurs and companies that are positioning themselves at the forefront of all things mobile. Other investments in m8 Capital’s portfolio include mobile ticketing company Masabi, next generation mobile publishing company Aylus Networks^™, the leading enabler of video communication services over mobile networks.

In other words, it would seem that Portalarium is now in a good financial position to finish Ultimate Collector (which is currently still in closed beta) and lay the foundations for the Ultimate RPG.

Interestingly, the New Britannia working title, which we haven’t seen or heard used in a while, makes an appearance here; it’s interesting to see that’s still a valid label for the project, and certainly reaffirms that the Ultimate RPG is indeed likely to feature Lord British and be a game that inherits much from the Ultima tradition.

The nature of the partnership with Zynga also gets clarified, somewhat: they will be using Zynga as a publishing platform.

Note: For those unfamiliar with investment terminology, Series A financing is the “first round of financing undergone for a new business venture after seed capital. Generally, this is the first time that company ownership is offered to external investors. Series A financing, may be provided in the form of preferred stock, and may offer anti-dilution provisions in the event that further financing through preferred or common stock occurs in the future…Series A financing tends to occur when the company is generating some revenue from its business model, but rarely will the business be generating net profits at this point. Most series A investors will be venture capital funds or angel investors that are willing to accept the high levels of risk found in these early-stage company investments.”