Immortals of Aveum, a new IP from a former Call of Duty developer Bret Robbins’ Ascendant Studios, launched in August but didn’t generate the kind of numbers it needed to. As a result, Ascendant laid off staff. To help improve the game’s longer-term fortunes, many are wondering if the game could come to a subscription service like Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus.
Robbins told Windows Central that those services definitely “give you a wider funnel,” and launching Immortals on Game Pass or PS Plus might lead to greater engagement.
Robbins said discussions are underway, and he’s hopeful that Immortals can join one or both of the subscription catalogs sometime down the road. “Yes, we are talking to them about getting the game onto both of those services. We don’t have a date yet, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna happen, though,” he said.
Would Immortals have been better served launching directly into a subscription service? Robbins said he doesn’t know if this would have helped, or potentially made things worse.
Ascendant had to cut staff due to Immortals not living up to expectations, but the studio remains operational and is now making its next game–it hasn’t been announced yet, however.
Also in the interview, Robbins said the competitive market might have played a role in Immortals coming up short, while the fact that it was a new IP also led to challenges. “I’ve never seen a year like this,” Robbins said. “Trying to create awareness for us was really, really difficult. It’s always hard for a new IP and this year made it 10 times harder.”
Immortals is a single-player first-person “magic shooter” that focuses on a character named Jak, who is portrayed by Never Have I Ever actor Darren Barnet. GameSpot’s Immortals of Aveum review scored the game a 5/10.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
