People will discover the “100% AAA” shooter for “years and years”, Ascendant head suggests

Immortals of Aveumsaw a very rough debut last summer, with the first-person magic-shooter from new studio Ascendant and EA reportedly suffering poor sales and mixed reviews - resulting in almost half of its developersbeing laid off mere weeks after its launch. Despite beinga reported $125 million flop that “no-one bought”, its director believes that it could still go on to find an audience yet.

Ascendant studio head Bret Robbins toldGamesIndustry.bizthat part of Immortals of Aveum’s struggle was due to its arrival in the midst of a packed summer, launching shortly afterBaldur’s Gate 3(the result of that game’s sudden move up the calendar), the same week asArmored Core 6: Fires Of Rubiconand less than two weeks beforeStarfield. That was despite the game being delayed from its original release date to add some final development polish.

“We absolutely got lost in the noise,” Robbins said. “Although the game was better, the timing was worse.”

Robbins didn’t ascribe all of Immortals’ difficulties to its release window, however, stating that putting out a brand new IP that people were unfamiliar with - even with a reported $40m of marketing help from EA - contributed to its mixed critical reception.

“I’ve never worked on a game that got both 4s and 10s,” he said, comparing it to his past work on theCall of Duty serieswhere “people knew what Call of Duty was”. “I think that can be attributed, to some degree, to it being a new IP.

“We were a fantasy shooter, and we clearly got some reviewers who don’t like shooters. Maybe they were surprised by it. New IPs face that. People are going into it blind.”

Whether you agree with Robbins or not - personally, I’m not entirely convinced by the argument that people struggled to understand the simple concept of “FPSbut magic” - the director remains optimistic that in time more players will give Immortals of Aveum a chance, helping it to find a cult following in the years to come.

“The story of Immortals isn’t written yet,” he said. “I was the creative director onDead Space, and people were discovering that for years and years. I think Immortals will be the same."

Robbins still feels that the team succeeded in creating a “100% AAA” experience on a “pretty modest” budget, and remains steadfast in his belief that Immortals has potential despite its troubled debut, having previously committed to continue supporting the game and the wider Immortals IP in the future.

“We are still here, we are still supporting it, the sales are picking up and I hope more and more people play and enjoy it,” he said.

“If people want new IP, if they want innovation, they have to vote with their wallet. If you say it and don’t buy it, maybe you don’t believe it that much.”