Absurd Ventures – established last year by former Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser – has announced in a press release that it has established a new studio, Absurd Marin, that comprises of the Immortals of Aveum team, including being led by the shooter’s director and Ascendant Studios founder and CEO Bret Robbins. The studio is working on a new story-driven action-adventure title. 

“Bret has put together a highly talented, passionate team,” said Dan Houser. “We are very excited to have them join forces with us as we begin to work together on one of our original new titles.”

“We love the focus on storytelling and world building at Absurd Ventures,” said Bret Robbins. “We are thrilled to team up and bring our combined expertise to work on an original game set in an incredibly fun new universe.”

There isn’t much clarity on what specifically this will mean for Ascendant Studios’ future, but in a statement on Twitter, Robbins has stated that the studio will be “going quiet” as it focuses its efforts on its new project.

“Leading the Ascendant team has been one of the greatest experiences of my professional life,” Robbins’ statement reads. “I feel incredibly lucky to work with such a passionate and hard working team. From learning UE5, to building an acclaimed combat system, to crafting a new fantasy world for Immortals of Aveum, it has been an amazing journey. Now we move forward into our next chapter, and I can’t wait to share more details with you soon.”

Along with the new frame generation features, the PC release of Immortals of Aveum has also gotten some improvements in its FSR 3 implementation, thanks to a newer version of the technology being used. PC and consoles can both also used FSR 3’s support for variable refresh rate monitors.

Other features of the update are smaller things, like minor bug fixes for progression blockers, addition of localized text, and an update to Nvidia DLSS 3.7 and Streamline 2.4, improving image quality for Nvidia RTX GPU users. Check out the full patch notes below.

The update was announced back in April, with HDR features originally being released for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the game.

Immortals of Aveum was released back in August last year. For more details on the game, check out our review.

Patch 1.0.6.4 notes:

• Immortals of Aveum is now running AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3) on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and PC!
• FSR 3 uses a combination of super resolution temporal upscaling technology and advanced frame generation to deliver smoother framerates, better image quality, and improved game performance.
• On PC, AMD FSR 3 has been updated to a newer, better version which further improves visual quality and performance of its temporal upscaling.
• On console and PC, the FSR 3 update also extends support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) monitors and TVs, which can improve frame pacing to help reduce judder or screen tears
• HDR (high dynamic range) support is now available on PC to enhance players’ gaming experience with more detailed and realistic visuals. HDR arrived on consoles in the previous game update, patch 1.0.6.3.
• HDR is set to ‘off’ by default and can be adjusted in the Graphics menu.
• Known Issue: After the user sets HDR to ‘on’, closing and relaunching the game causes HDR Mode to turn ‘off’ while the toggle button continues to display ‘on’. We’re working to release a hot fix for this as quickly as possible.
• Temporary Workaround: When relaunching the game, toggle HDR to ‘off’ > save settings > toggle HDR to ‘on’ > save settings

• Fixed an audio bug when switching language settings in game. The game will now apply the correct audio voice over for the selected language.
• Updated to NVIDIA DLSS 3.7 and NVIDIA Streamline 2.4 which can help further improve image quality and game performance for PCs utilizing the latest NVIDIA RTX GPUs.
• Fixed a rare issue with NVIDIA cards that could cause the game to crash when using Alt+Tab.

• Addressed minor bugs and progression blockers
• Addressed instances of occasional crashes
• Minor addition of localized text

The same was shared by Kris Morness on LinkedIn, who was Principal Engineer at Ascendant Studios for nearly a year, before leaving the company and joining Phoenix Labs. As per Morness, around 30 people have been impacted by the furlough.

“Ascendant Studios has furloughed the majority of their staff,” Morness wrote. “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. Not sure what the numbers are like, but I’m probably guessing around 30 folks.”

Though Ascendant Studios has yet to officially confirm the same, Polygon reported Nicole Carpenter corroborated Morness’ statement, writing on Twitter, “This lines up with what I’ve heard at Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant 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.”

Reportedly developed on a budget of $125 million, when Immortals of Aveum launched last year, it was met with relatively lukewarm reception and disappointing sales, the latter of which was attributed to a packed release schedule in 2023 by Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins. Shortly afterward, the developer announced that it had laid off roughly 45 percent of its staff.

Immortals of Aveum is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Read our review of the game through here.

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. pic.twitter.com/WNjcIJpOBH

— Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) April 10, 2024

First, patch 1.0.6.3 will add HDR support when it goes live later today. The same will be added to the shooter’s PC version with a “future update”, a date for which hasn’t been confirmed.

On top of that, update 1.0.6.4 will bring performance improvements through the use of AMD’s FSR 3 frame generation. That’s particularly notable because Immortals of Aveum is going to be the first game to implement FSR 3 frame generation on consoles. Meanwhile, the magic shooter’s PC version will also receive support for the latest version of the tech.

Ascendant Studios says patch 1.0.6.4 – which is being worked on in collaboration with Enduring Games – will release “in just a few short week”, though a specific date is unknown.

Immortals of Aveum is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It recently also became available via PlayStation Plus. Read our review of the game through here.

Also coming to PlayStation Plus next month is Minecraft Legends (for both PS5 and PS4 players), Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive’s real-time action strategy spinoff, which released nearly a year ago. The third and final game for subscribers next month will be SouthPAW Games’ 2021 roguelite action platformer, Skul: The Hero Slayer (for subscribers on all platforms).

All three games will become available for subscribers of all three PS Plus tiers on April 2, which means you have until April 1 to claim the current set of games.

Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins would go on to say that 2023’s packed release schedule contributed to Immortals of Aveum’s disappointing sales, and though that was very likely a factor, a developer who worked on the game has revealed the shooter’s development and marketing costs, and said that not only was the game unsuited to market demands (especially for its budget), but that it also failed to execute on its vision.

As per the developer, who spoke to IGN anonymously, Immortals of Aveum had a development budget of $85 million, with publisher EA spending an additional $40 million to market the game, for total costs of around $125 million.

“At a high level, Immortals was massively overscoped for a studio’s debut project,” the developer said. “The development cost was around $85 million, and I think EA kicked in $40 million for marketing and distribution. Sure, there was some serious talent on the development team, but trying to make a AAA single-player shooter in today’s market was a truly awful idea, especially since it was a new IP that was also trying to leverage Unreal Engine 5. What ended up launching was a bloated, repetitive campaign that was far too long.”

In our review of the game, we gave it a score of 5/10, saying, “Immortals of Aveum starts promising but quickly suffers a litany of flaws. It does have some good-looking visuals but is often awkward when it’s not downright unwieldy to play.” Read the full review through here.

Immortals of Aveum is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins has said that the game is likely to eventually release for Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, but there have been no official announcements on that front thus far.

Speaking with Windows Central, Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins confirmed that the developer is in talks with Microsoft and Sony to bring Immortals of Aveum to Game Pass and PlayStation Plus respectively, something that he says he is “pretty sure” is going to happen, even if he doesn’t have a timeframe in mind for it.

“Certainly, those services give you a wider funnel,” he said. “More people might engage with the game, that’s always good.”

“We are talking to [Sony and Microsoft] about getting the game onto both of those services,” Robbins added. “We don’t have a date yet, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna happen, though.”

Immortals of Aveum recently also added a New Game Plus mode and new endgame content as part of a major free update. Read more on that through here.

Immortals of Aveum is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Read our review of the game through here.

Speaking in a recent interview with Windows Central, Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins touched on Immortals of Aveum’s commercial failure, and said that he felt the packed release schedule that characterized virtually all of 2023 and many others  contributed to the game’s lower sales.

“100%,” Robbins said when asked if he felt the game’s commercial performance was impacted by the year’s packed schedule. “We were not in a position where we could delay or push out of our launch window. You set those windows quite a bit ahead of time because you’re spending marketing dollars, you have commitments to a particular date.”

Looking at the games we’ve seen coming out over the last several months, it’s hard to argue with Robbins’ point. In 2023, we’ve seen more major releases than we have in most years in recent memory, including the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Alan Wake 2, Resident Evil 4, Starfield, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4, Street Fighter 6, Diablo 4, and Dead Space, among many, many others.

Robbins added: “I’ve never seen a year like this. It’s always hard to break through the noise when you’re a new IP or a studio people haven’t heard of before. 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.”

Touching on the aforementioned layoffs at Ascendant Studios, Robbins said, “The layoffs really sucked. There’s no two ways around that. We are not a big corporation. Our business relies on selling games, and we didn’t sell enough games. And that forced me to make that decision, which, it was really unfortunate. These are people I worked closely with, people that put their heart and soul into the game. You never, ever want to have to do that.”

Ascendant Studios and publisher EA will be hoping that Immortals of Aveum is able to attract more new players following the recent launch of a major free update, which added New Game Plus, new endgame content, and more. Meanwhile, Robbins has also said that the studio is in talks with Sony and Microsoft to bring the game to PlayStation Plus and Game Pass respectively.

Immortals of Aveum is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Read our review of the game through here.

The studio has also released a new demo for Immortals of Aveum on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, this time around taking all of the game’s new features into account.

Headlining the update is the addition of a New Game+ mode, which allows players to start a fresh playthrough of its campaign while still preserving their progression, including gear, resources, talents, Arcanum, health, and mana upgrades.

The update also brings with it a new endgame activity, which becomes available once the player reaches Glaivegate. The new activity revolves around taking on corrupted Shroudfanes, dubbed Shatterfanes, in the hunt for new gear, as well as a new epic boss battle against the Echollector, and new lore. Check out the complete patch notes below.

PATCH NOTES:

New Game+:

• We’ve added New Game+ as an option to begin a new playthrough while preserving key progression features.
• The player starts New Game+ as a Magnus in the Light’s Army. The new playthrough begins in the Yltheum Chapter, bypassing the introductory Streetwise and The Magnus Chapters.
• Gear, resources, talents, Arcanum, and health and mana upgrades carry over from the previous playthrough.
• All unlocked spells and abilities carry over EXCEPT Augment spells (Grapple, Disrupt, Animate, etc.) due to their unlock requirements.
• Epic and Legendary gear can be upgraded to higher levels in the Forge.
• Enemy health, damage, and abilities have been rebalanced, and experience and currency earned have been adjusted to scale with New Game+ progression.

How to access:

NG+ is available from a shrine behind Zendara in Glaivegate following the final boss battle battle. You do not need to 100% the game to start NG+

Grand Magnus Difficulty Mode:

• We’ve added the new “Grand Magnus” game difficulty option that provides players with tougher combat challenges throughout the game.
• “Grand Magnus” difficulty can be selected anytime, whether it’s your first playthrough or you’re starting New Game+.
• Enemy health, defense, power, and behavior have been adjusted.
• Combat is more intense, there are fewer health drops, and swapping between spells and abilities will be essential to survival.

“The Echollector” Gameplay Update: SPOILERS ALERT

• “The Echollector” gameplay update brings new endgame objectives to Immortals of Aveum™. Spoilers lie below, so skip ahead if you’d prefer to experience it all in the game first.
  • The new content automatically becomes available when the player reaches Glaivegate.
  • Shatterfanes – these are corrupted Shroudfanes that lead to new hidden areas and tough battles.
  • New Gear – Within the Shatterfanes, players will be rewarded with all-new gear items to take on their journey, including a new bracer, two rings, Limpets vial, and a legendary sigil.
  • Discover new lore and face an epic boss battle with the ancient being, The Echollector.

How to access:

The four fanes are in Pale Forest, Shrineforge, Oremen, and Glaivegate. To progress through the Acroamatic Fane (the fourth and final fane in Glaivegate), you need to beat the other 3 fanes.

General Updates:

• Addressed how the player interacts with an object to prevent accidentally crushing a Mana crystal
• On PC, we’ve added an option to turn off mouse smoothing which can help improve the feel of high DPI mice
• Added FPS cap on PC
• Addressed an issue where a player could occasionally get stuck in a freefall inside a Shroudfane
• Made it so enemies leave behind their loot even if they fall into the abyss
• Fixed instances of occasional crashes and progression blockers
• Addressed rumors of a new Beast among Rasharn’s ranks still lurking within the borders of Kalthus
• Updated Privacy Policy document

These become available after the player reaches Glaivegate and features a new boss fight with new lore. Other features include New Game Plus, which allows for carrying over “most” abilities and spells (but not Augment Spells) into a new playthrough.

Epic and Legendary gear can be upgraded to higher levels, and enemies have their health, damage, and abilities rebalanced (XP and currency earned are also adjusted). There’s also Grand Magnus difficulty, the “most challenging mode” yet, accessible when starting a new playthrough and New Game Plus.

Stay tuned for more details when the Echollector Update goes live in the coming weeks. Immortals of Aveum is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out our review here.