Immortals of Aveum Studio affected by layoffs

Ascendant Studios, the team behind Immortals of Aveum, has been hit by some significant layoffs. Immortals of Aveum was released in August as an EA Original, and possibly due to disappointing sales figures, the Ascendant Studios team has been significantly downsized.

Despite receiving mixed reactions, Immortals of Aveum also had some successes around its release. Despite the criticism it received, Immortals of Aveum became one of the top 100 Steam games of 2023. However, the Immortals of Aveum community quickly declined after the release, going from 751 concurrent players to an average of less than 100 players. Part of this decline may be attributed to the high system requirements of Immortals of Aveum, but some players have not returned since the launch week. These low player numbers may have influenced the developer, as the studio had to lay off a significant portion of the team.

The CEO and founder of Ascendant Studios, Bret Robbins, recently shared an update about the development team. According to Robbins, 45% of the Ascendant Studios team, including artists and engineers, have been laid off. As part of the layoffs, affected employees of Ascendant Studios will receive severance packages and assistance with job placement. The post confirmed that Immortals of Aveum will continue to receive support and the brand may receive attention in the future. These layoffs come less than a month after the release of Immortals of Aveum, with some issues in the game still requiring attention.

Beyond expressing appreciation for the team members leaving Ascendant Studios, Bret Robbins praised their skills in his post. Robbins stated that the laid-off developers from Immortals of Aveum have showcased their abilities with Unreal Engine 5. Robbins intends to connect these developers with studios that reach out, and the Game Director of Immortals of Aveum left his contact information alongside the post. Another employee separately mentioned that Immortals of Aveum is an underperforming EA Original, which led to layoffs prior to this significant studio change. EA itself has also faced layoffs in the past year, suggesting that many internal restructuring efforts are taking place.

While it's not uncommon for development teams to shrink after the release of a game, the number of laid-off employees in a short period can slow down progress on future content. Although Bret Robbins alluded to future work related to the Immortals of Aveum IP, it is currently unclear what the studio will be working on next.

Immortals of Aveum is now available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.