Former Ascendant Studios Dev Calls Immortals of Aveum a ‘Truly Awful Idea’

One of Immortals of Aveum‘s former developers has spoken about why the EA-backed magic shooter may have struggled to find success. A story-driven single-player FPS campaign that lets players wield different types of magic, Immortals of Aveum was released in August 2023 to solid reception, but ultimately failed to gain any sort of substantial following.

As Ascendant Studios’ debut game, and the largest game under the EA Originals publishing banner to date, Immortals of Aveum seemed quite promising to fans of first-person shooters in the lead up to its release. However, launching around the same time as other juggernauts such as Starfield, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon did Immortals of Aveum no favors. As a result of poor sales, Ascendant made the unfortunate decision to let go of nearly half its staff not even a full month after Immortals of Aveum‘s release.

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In speaking with IGN, an anonymous former Asendant Studio developer who was affected by the studio’s layoffs has expressed why the project may not have been such a great idea in the first place. Revealing that Immortals of Aveum had a huge budget of $125 million, $40 million of which was used for marketing and distribution, the developer claims that the title was “massively overscoped for a studio’s debut project.” With so much budget allocated to marketing, it’s a wonder how Immortals of Aveum‘s launch seemed to have come and gone with such little hype or buzz.

The anonymous developer went on to describe some of the fundamental reasons they believe caused Immortals of Aveum’s sales woes, citing the fact that it’s a games/”>new IP using Unreal Engine 5, and claiming that attempting to make a AAA single-player FPS in the current video game market is a bad idea. The developer also called Aveum bloated and repetitive, expressing that the story campaign overstays its welcome. While the game’s seemingly weak marketing efforts may have certainly been a leading cause of Aveum‘s sales struggles, the fact that it’s a new IP and a single-player FPS experience in a landscape that sees remakes, sequels, and online multiplayer service games thrive may have also played a significant role.

What’s Next For Ascendant Studios?

Despite losing half its staff, Ascendant Studios still remains open and active. Whether the studio beefs back up for another crack at a big-budget AAA title or perhaps takes on smaller-scale projects for the time being remains to be seen. The question of whether it’ll continue working with EA under the Originals umbrella is also a big one, as the program is mostly known to produce smaller experiences like It Takes Two and Lost in Random. The former Ascendant developer mentioned how the studio did a lot right, such as having little overtime, fair compensation, fully allowing remote work, and more. Hopefully, Ascendant Studios continues such healthy practices in the future.

Immortals of Aveum

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Ascendant Studios’ Immortals of Aveum is a first-person fantasy shooter revolving around magic spells. Built using Unreal Engine 5, the narrative-driven game blends linear levels with Metroidvania-style areas that allow for a degree of exploration.

Released

August 22, 2023

Developer(s)

Ascendant Studios