Breaking News: Immortals of Aveum Developer's Shocking Workforce Cutback Sends Shockwaves Through Gaming Industry

Ascendant Studios, the developer behind Immortals of Aveum, has recently let go of more than half of its workforce following the launch of their debut game.

Polygon has reported that approximately 40 employees were laid off at the studio, according to three developers familiar with the situation. Ascendant Studios' website states that they have a team of over 100 people, leading sources at Polygon to believe that the layoffs accounted for nearly half of the staff. Additionally, a former employee revealed that several others had also been let go in the past few weeks.

Ascendant CEO Bret Robbins cited poor sales as the reason for the layoffs at the studio. Immortals of Aveum, a game published by EA under its "Originals" banner, was released on August 22 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC to mixed reviews. Our Website's review mentioned issues with repetitive combat, a lackluster story, and a difficult control scheme. It appears that the magic-based FPS failed to attract a significant audience. According to one former developer, Immortals of Aveum is possibly one of EA's worst-selling Original titles, although no specific sales figures were provided. SteamDB data shows that the game's concurrent player numbers peaked at 751 shortly after launch and have ranged between just above 100 to as low as 29 in the past week. These numbers indicate a less-than-promising performance for a new AAA release. Polygon suggests that the high technical requirements of the game may have contributed to the low player numbers, as many PC players may have been unable to run the game effectively on their machines.