A project too ambitious for a new studio?
Despite moderately positive reviews and a score Metacritic from 69 to the time of writing these lines, Immortals of Aveum did not meet with the expected success for Ascendant Studios and Electronic Arts. Shortly after its launch on August 22, the game was followed by a wave of layoffs affecting nearly half of the studio's workforce. Bret Robbins, CEO of Ascendant Studios, expressed his disappointment, highlighting the challenges inherent in launching a new franchise in an environment saturated with major releases.
In a new article published on IGN, an anonymous former employee of Ascendant Studios said that the game cost around $125 million in total, and that making a single-player game on such a budget spelled failure.
Advertisement
“Overall, Immortals was way too ambitious for a studio launch project. The development cost was around $85 million, and I think EA chipped in with $40 million for marketing and distribution. »
Despite an experienced team, headed by Bret Robbins (creative director of Dead Space and many games Call of Duty within Sledgehammer), the current video game market would not be conducive to this type of production according to this same developer.
“Sure, there was some serious talent on the team, but trying to make a AAA single-player shooter in today's market was truly a terrible idea, especially since it was a license that was also trying to to take advantage of Unreal Engine 5. What ultimately launched was a bloated, repetitive, and way too long campaign. »
If we are to believe IGN's sources, the failure Immortals of Aveum would above all be the consequence of an overly volatile market. “It's not a sequel or a remake, it doesn't take 400 hours to complete, there are zero microtransactions, no unnecessary grinding in an open world” explains a second anonymous developer still working at the studio. It is also stated that Ascendant has been impeccable regarding the working environment.
“For everything Ascendant has done right – paying people well, telecommuting opportunities, little overtime until the end, a relaxed environment with lots of freedom to grow, respect for QA, hiring juniors, etc. – it did not work. »
Ascendant is currently working on a new project about which nothing is known at the moment. We know in any case that it will be much less ambitious than the magical FPS due to the reduction in numbers.