The difficult times for gaming companies continue. Ascendant Studios, which created the Immortals of Aveum shooter, forcibly transferred most employees to a long unpaid leave. This is reported by the Game Developer with reference to a LinkedIn post by Phoenix Labs Chief Engineer Chris Morness.
Immortals of Aveum
According to Morness, about 30 Ascendant Studios employees were temporarily left without salaries.
Morness' information was partially confirmed by Polygon journalist Nicole Carpenter. Her sources also reported forced unpaid leave, but did not name the number of employees affected. It is unknown how long such a vacation will last.
Ascendant Studios did not respond to requests from Polygon and Game Developer.
In September 2023, Ascendant Studios laid off 45% of the staff due to the failed sales of Immortals of Aveum. As the media wrote at the time, 80-100 people worked in the studio before the layoffs.
Two months ago, Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz said that sales of the game are gradually growing. He expressed the hope that Immortals of Aveum will attract players for years, despite the disastrous start.