Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios has laid off nearly half of its staff

Nearly half of the development team behind the EA-published Immortals of Aveum has been laid off.

Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins announced the layoffs on Twitter, calling the decision “painfully difficult, but necessary”.

“Today, we are heartbroken as we part ways with friends and colleagues at Ascendant Studios – about 45% of our team,” Robbins’ statement reads.

“This was a painfully difficult, but necessary decision that was not made lightly – nevertheless, we have to make this adjustment now that Immortals of Aveum has shipped.

“We are supporting those affected in every way we can, including comprehensive severance packages and job placement assistance, as well as support services for those who remain.

“If your studio is looking for proven UE5 artists and engineers, please reach out and let us know so we can introduce you to some incredibly talented game devs.”

Robbins added: “I am so proud of what our independent development team has accomplished with Immortals of Aveum. Together we’ve created a new AAA studio, a new IP, on new technology, during an era of our industry when that is exceedingly rare.

“We’ve poured our passion into Immortals, while wearing our hearts on our sleeves. The studio will continue to work that way as we support the development of this game and our Immortals IP moving forward with future updates and offers.

“To my team reading this message, especially those leaving us, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your invaluable contributions to Ascendant’s culture and your tremendous impact on bringing Immortals of Aveum to life.

Further reading

1

Review: Immortals of Aveum is a promising debut that never ascends to excellence

Aveum is a world we loved blasting our way through, even if its characters grew tiresome

“We wish you nothing but success in the next chapter of your careers. Please stay in touch.”

Based in San Rafael, California, Ascendant is an independent studio founded by Robbins, who was creative director on Visceral Games’ original Dead Space as well as Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty games Modern Warfare 3, Advanced Warfare and World War 2.

Immortals of Aveum was released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on August 22 and was met with reasonable review scores, with a Metacritic score of 70.

VGC’s Immortals of Aveum review calls it “a promising debut that doesn’t quite ascend to excellence”.