Former Ascendent Studios employee Kris Morness reports that the company has furloughed the majority of its staff less than a year after it released Immortals of Aveum and less than a week after it announced it was working on a new project.
A screenshot from Immortals of Aveum (2023), Ascendant Studios
Morness shared on LinkedIn, “Ascendant Studios has furloughed the majority of their staff. I can’t imagine what that would be like as that is worse than getting laid off. It would be good to get eyes on people there looking for work. Stuff like this shouldn’t fly under the radar.”
He added, “Not sure what the numbers are like, but I’m probably guessing around 30 folks.”
Kris Morness on LinkedIn
In response to a comment from Alexander Rehm, Morness provided more details, “They had 45% layoffs 3 weeks after launch which impacted 50 people, there’s been a bit of attrition since, but the remaining team is probably somewhere around 40-45 folks before furlough. But I’m just estimating. I was there at peak headcount. Also not everyone was furloughed.”
Kris Morness on LinkedIn
Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter echoed Morness’ comments writing on X, “This lines up with what I’ve heard at Immortals of Aveum developer Ascedant Studios — that a large portion of the staff was recently furloughed. Haven’t been able to confirm numbers, and Ascendant hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment.”
Nicole Carpenter on X
These reports come less than a week after the studio announced it was “hard at work on our next project” and was “continuing to work on improving Immortals of Aveum so that more players can enjoy it to the fullest.”
And as noted above, it comes about seven months after Ascendant Studios Founder and CEO Bret Robbins announced the company was laying off 45% of its staff just a month after the game released. In September 2023 he posted to X, “Today, we are heartbroken as we part ways with friends and colleagues at Ascendant Studios – about 45% of our team. This was a painfully difficult, but necessary decision that was not made lightly; nevertheless we have to make this adjustment now that Immortals of Aveum has shipped.”
Brett Robbins on X
According to SteamDB, the game seemingly did not sell well on PC. The all-time peak concurrent players was 751 when it launched in August. The most recent 24-hour peak was 44 players.
Immortals of Aveum SteamDB Charts
What do you make of this report that Ascendant Studios has furloughed the majority of its remaining staff after previously laying off 45% of it?
