Ascendant Studios has recently furloughed most of its remaining staff, according to Phoenix Labs engineer Kris Morness.
In a recent post on LinkedIn, Morness claimed the furlough has affected “around 30 folks.” This was further corroborated by Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter, who added the studio had yet to comment on the matter.
The last furlough news we had was with Crop Circle Games back in February. In March, that ended with the studio being closed entirely, allegedly in an underhanded manner.
Since the launch of its debut game Immortals of Aveum in mid-2023, Ascendant has been in rough straits. Almost a month after launch, it cut about half its staff (out of a then-total of 80-100 people).
Those cuts were due to Immortals’ poor launch sales. While EA hasn’t commented on its performance, director Bret Robbins told Remap Radio in February sales were improving, though he acknowledged it maybe shouldn’t have launched at $70.
When he talked about the rising sales, he said he “hoped it continues for a long time. Once people actually [play it], they go, ‘This game’s kind of awesome. How did I miss this one?'”]
In that same interview, Robbins noted the game managed to put eyes on Ascendant as a potential partner studio. It’s unknown if a recent deal fell through, or if any deals have been secured since then.
Game Developer has reached out to Ascendant and will update when a response is given.