Poor Immortals of Aveum sales trigger major staffing cuts at studio weeks after launch

Ascendant Studios, makers of Immortals of Aveum, has laid off nearly half of its developers and artists following the game’s lackluster sales.

In a post to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sept. 14, studio chief Bret Robbins described himself as “heartbroken” to have to make the cuts.

Immortals of Aveum launched on Aug. 22 to middling reviews. It received an average score of 70 from critics and a 5.4 out of 10 from users, according to Metacritic.

Feedback about the Immortals ranges from tepid to downright scalding with Eurogamer saying: “Mixing repetitive, imprecise combat with annoying characters and a landslide of nonsensical, proper noun-stuffed lore, Immortals of Aveum is almost so bad it’s good. If only.”

Ouch.

Immortals was aiming for a non-traditional take on the FPS genre by favoring Tolkienesque lore and magic weaponry over the rattling machine guns and Michael Bay-style stories you typically see in modern shooters. Unfortunately, this unique approach failed to connect with players.

Ex-staff have taken to LinkedIn to ask for jobs or referrals. Those affected run the gamut of level, narrative, and sound designers to artists and quality assurance staff.

“Due to recent layoffs, I am now looking for work. I had a ton of fun working at Ascendant studios and really enjoyed working with the people there. I’m proud of what we made but its time for the next thing. If anyone has any leads on Environment Art positions please let me know! #opentowork,” Jefferson Smith writes, an environment artist who worked on the game. He was with the studio for more than three years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The Ascendant news comes at the same time as Ubisoft announced its London studio will be closing its doors. Fifty-four staff will be affected. The studio, formerly known as Future Games of London before being acquired by the French game maker in 2013, was known for developing the Hungry Shark series of mobile games. The Hungry Shark games garnered more than a billion downloads earlier this year, according to Ubisoft.

Speaking to VGC, Ubisoft said, “As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance efficiency, streamline operations, and reduce costs, we are proposing the consolidation of the ongoing management of the Hungry Shark franchise at our Ubisoft Barcelona Mobile studio, which already oversees a portion of it.”

Elsewhere in the industry, layoffs have impacted studios like BioWare and Gearbox. By far the biggest, however, was Volition, which shut down in August after thirty years of operation. The weak sales of its Saint’s Row reboot were widely assumed to be the cause. Volition was acquired by Embracer Group in 2018.