Following a tough yr for Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios, a “core group” of round 20 staff has now decamped to Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures, establishing a brand new studio that’ll be referred to as Absurd Marin.
Immortals of Aveum, a “single-player first individual magic shooter”, launched to blended evaluations final August, and it didn’t make a lot of an impression commercially. In consequence, only a month later, Ascendent Studios introduced it had made the “painfully tough, however mandatory” resolution to lay off 45 % of its workers, equating to round 40 staff.
And issues did not get significantly better from there; earlier this yr, it was reported a “giant portion” of the remaining group had been furloughed, leaving the way forward for Ascendant doubtful. However now, Houser’s Absurd Ventures has introduced it is taken a minimum of a number of the studio below its wing, with a “core group” of round 20 former staff forming new developer Absurd Marin.
Based mostly in San Rafael, California, Absurd Marin will likely be led by Ascendant Studios’ founder and recreation director Bret Robbins, with its group set to develop as growth of its new recreation – described as a “story pushed action-adventure title set in one other, as-yet-unannounced Absurd universe” – continues.
Since its unveiling final June, Absurd Ventures has introduced two “universes” – American Caper and A Higher Paradise – meant to type the idea of a number of transmedia initiatives, starting with a graphic novel and podcast respectively. In the meantime, a job commercial noticed in Might confirmed Absurd’s first online game challenge can be within the works. Known as an “open-world action-adventure” that is aiming to ship “best-in-class fight and third-person motion throughout a number of recreation modes”, no additional data has been revealed. It is unclear if this is identical challenge now in Absurd Marin’s palms.
As for Ascendant Studios, no official discover of its closure has been shared, so its present standing stays unsure. However having misplaced its founder and 20 staff from an already considerably diminished group, it appears uncertain it will have a lot of a future.
