The CEO of Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios believes the game’s struggles and mass layoffs were “100 percent” a result of stiff competition in the launch window.
Immortals of Aveum was released on Aug. 22, 2023, shortly after Game of the Year contender Baldur’s Gate 3 and just before Microsoft exclusive Starfield—as well as just a few days ahead of Armored Core 6.
Ultimately, CEO Bret Robbins believes that those releases affected the success of the game and, after poor sales, resulted in the layoff of 45 percent of the company’s staff—something Robbins said was unavoidable.
Speaking to Windows Central, as spotted by Eurogamer, Robbins explained that the release window of Immortals of Aveum could not be delayed due to making “commitments to a particular doubt” and, while they knew it was a busy release window, “no one anticipated” Baldur’s Gate 3’s success.
Just weeks after Immortals of Aveum was released, almost half of the staff at Ascendant Studios were hit by layoffs. Robbins was “forced” to make that decision and admitted they “didn’t sell enough games”.
Despite those issues, Immortals of Aveum is still very much alive with the release of the Echolletor Update on Nov. 17, providing a free trial of the game, a new difficulty, a New Game+ mode, additional endgame content, and more.
Robbins also revealed that there are ongoing talks with Microsoft and Sony to potentially bring Immortals of Aveum to Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus in the near future and he is “pretty sure it’s going to happen”.
Launching on those subscription services could result in more people trying out the game and would certainly encourage me to do so, as Immortals of Aveum flew right under my radar in what was an extremely packed period for games.
However, while the developer can talk about the release schedule leaving them drowning in a packed market, the fact of the matter is Immortals of Aveum failed to make a significant impression, sitting at 69 on Metacritic.
