Immortals of Aveum creator Ascendant Studios has laid off almost half of its staff, according to three people at the studio. Employees estimate that the studio employed 80 to 100 people before the layoffs; about 40 people were fired. Ascendant CEO Bret Robbins announced the layoffs during a meeting Thursday.
A former employee told Polygon Immortals of Aveum‘The studio’s poor sales were cited for the layoffs, which would be necessary to keep the studio running. Immortals of Aveum was released on August 22 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series as a “groundbreaking” AAA single-player magic shooter from an independent studio. But when it was released, the game received mixed reviews from critics, who said it recreated triple-A styles.
Immortals of Aveum peaked at just under 800 Steam players shortly after launch, according to SteamDB. Just under a month since launch, the game has peaked at 74 players in the past 24 hours, according to database figures. This could be partly due to Immortals of Aveum heavy technical requirements According to The Verge, less than 9% of PCs are qualified to run the game.
For a big-budget first-person shooter, those Steam numbers don’t paint a profitable picture. A former employee told Polygon Immortals of Aveum is probably one of Electronic Arts’ worst-selling originals. Several other people were also fired in the weeks after their release, a former employee said.
Ascendant Studios did not respond to Polygon’s request for comment.