What you need to know
- Ascendant Studios is the development team behind the magic-based first-person shooter Immortals of Aveum.
- Immortals of Aveum launched on Aug. 22, 2023.
- Ascendant Studios has been hit with layoffs, with almost half the studio removed.
- According to a report from Polygon, the game's poor sales were cited as the main reason for the layoffs.
More layoffs have struck the gaming industry.
The latest round of job cuts affects Ascendant Studios, the team behind the recent magic first-person shooter Immortals of Aveum. In a report from Polygon, poor sales of the game — which just launched weeks ago on Aug. 22, 2023 — were cited as the main reason for layoffs at the studio.
According to Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins via Twitter, 45% of the studio is being let go in a "painfully difficult, but necessary decision," and according to Polygon, the studio employed between 80 and 100 developers before the layoffs.
Published by Electronic Arts as part of the EA Originals program, Immortals of Aveum was the first game from Ascendant Studios, a collection of developers founded by people who previously worked on franchises like Call of Duty, Dead Space, and Telltale's The Walking Dead.
In our review of Immortals of Aveum, I wrote that "With colorful spellcasting combat in a unique setting for fantasy games, there's a lot to like here. Unfortunately, things get rougher the longer the game goes on, with inconsistent writing weighing down the story."
Analysis: Depressing, but unsurprising
It's never good seeing news of more people losing their jobs, especially in a year that has been packed to the brim with layoffs and studio closures.
That said, this is unfortunately not surprising news. This was easily the biggest-budget game seen under the EA Originals program, and while we don't know exactly how well it sold, it clearly didn't have a huge impact, as we didn't get any sales or player milestones.
I hope everyone affected can find new jobs soon, especially with so many titles that are being developed using Unreal Engine 5.
