Support NeoGAF

[BennyBlanco]

EA flop Immortals of Aveum reportedly cost around $125 million, former dev says "a AAA single-player shooter in today's market was a truly awful idea"

"No one bought it"

www.gamesradar.com

The studio's CEO, Bret Robbins, has gone on record to blame Immortals' poor sales on last year's extraordinarily busy release calendar, but an anonymous former Ascendant employee speaking to IGN said, actually, the concept of the game itself and its sizable budget were both fundamental mistakes and ultimately doomed the project.


"At a high level, Immortals was massively overscoped for a studio's debut project," the former employee 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."

125M for what appeared to be a AA production. Starting to make sense how incredibly risk averse the industry has become and big publishers are just cranking out the same slop every year.

 

[xrnzaaas]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

 

[simpatico]

Why? What adults thought this was a sound investment? You could make the same game with lower rez textures for $500k

 

[Flabagast]

I think the awful art direction was the biggest setback imho, at least at first glance.

Personally it discouraged me straight away to look further into the game.

 

[rofif]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

exactly. There was 0 marketing.
The game itself is fine. It's actually refreshingly normal game. Like doom 2016 mixed with normal xbox 360 fps game.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Game dev is not cheap in US based studios so I understand that hefty production budget, but the marketing cost being $40M is bonkers.

 

[MiguelItUp]

You know it's a problem when there are games out there that leave a much larger foot print that doesn't even cost a fraction of that price. Some of these studios are just burning money.

I think the game's look and design was a turn off for a lot of people. But also, marketing? I knew about the game, but I really didn't see much about the game at all. No streaming campaigns that I knew about, advertising, etc.

 

[BennyBlanco]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

Good question. Wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of this budget was some weird tax scheme.

I think the awful art direction was the biggest setback imho, at least at first glance.

It also has the dumbest title for a game Ive ever seen

 

[pleaseinsertdisctwo]

I’m almost done with the game, but I honestly think it’s really good. It can also be quite challenging (the optional content in particular).

I’d say my biggest issue with the game is the writing; it’s too Marvel-esque and silly. The game is definitely a little too long and repetitive, but I wouldn’t say overly-so. There’s enough effort put into the game + enough environmental variety and challenge.

I think I’ll blame the sales on the largely awful marketing.

1. Immortals of Aveum is a terrible name

2. Marketing being full of dumb-sounding proper nouns like Rasharn, Aveum, Sandraak, etc.


$40m on marketing is a joke, though. There was almost none


Edit: I will say that the music is painfully generic, particularly during exploration.

 

[ClanOfNone]

This game reminds me a lot of Anthem. The bones for a really good game are there, the execution is just shit.
The game is a fun “magic” DOOM clone mixed with some Metroid style unlocking and exploration. What kills it here are some of the worst writing and characters in the industry, and in an industry where the bar is already incredibly low in that aspect, they limboed right under it.

 

[winjer]

Someone has to have stolen quite a few millions.
The marketing was nowhere to be seen. And the game doesn't look or play like 85 million.

 

[diffusionx]

Consider the budget was half of Horizon Forbidden West and it shows... and you can kind of start to see how expensive these damn things are these days.

 

[captainnapalm]

It looked like something Netflix might make if they made games. It just screamed modern and bad.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

125 mil and the resolution and performance sucked on Series X ...to this day it feels awful to play

 

[Arsic]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

You already know about the game.
My guess is things like being on a PlayStation direct costs $, bill boards we never see, ads in magazines, and likely even ads on the console store cost money.

It’s very easy to hit $40M on the above.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

I’m almost done with the game, but I honestly think it’s really good. It can also be quite challenging (the optional content in particular).

I’d say my biggest issue with the game is the writing; it’s too Marvel-esque and silly. The game is definitely a little too long and repetitive, but I wouldn’t say overly-so. There’s enough effort put into the game + enough environmental variety and challenge.

I think I’ll blame the sales on the largely awful marketing.

1. Immortals of Aveum is a terrible name

2. Marketing being full of dumb-sounding proper nouns like Rasharn, Aveum, Sandraak, etc.


$40m on marketing is a joke, though. There was almost none


Edit: I will say that the music is painfully generic, particularly during exploration.

And why da fuck is he calling her "Sir" the whole game?

 

[SHA]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

Yt adds for a half day, doesn't count.

 

[Saber]

Has nothing to do with being AA. This is clearly a case of wasted money/resources.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Didn't someone say this game is a Metroidvania on the low?

 

[Spyxos]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

Someone must have bought a house and more. I haven't even seen an advertisement for this game.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Someone has to have stolen quite a few millions.
The marketing was nowhere to be seen. And the game doesn't look or play like 85 million.

exactly. There was 0 marketing.
The game itself is fine. It's actually refreshingly normal game. Like doom 2016 mixed with normal xbox 360 fps game.

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

It was forgettable and generic as hell so i dont fault you for not remembering it.

There was an obnoxiously high amount of marketing, it was at TGA and summer game fests (they even had the actor there) for example which are pretty much the biggest and most expensive commercial events for gaming. I feel like i was the only one who was sick of seeing all the marketing.

 

[TheUsual]

It was forgettable and generic as hell so i dont fault you for not remembering it.

There was an obnoxiously high amount of marketing, it was at TGA and summer game fests (they even had the actor there) for example which are pretty much the biggest and most expensive commercial events for gaming. I feel like i was the only one who was sick of seeing all the marketing.

It's crazy that with all that marketing none of it connected to me. I vaguely remember it being shown but that was it. Word of mouth and it being cheap got my attention.
Lowkey fun game but way too much holding it back.

 

[SHA]

The real problem isn't that it's bad, they stepped on something bigger than cod and others were already at the top of the ladder, cod with magic doesn't describe it fairly, you swap cod guns with magic, as a result, it becomes a modest system compared to other magic games, ioa is child play compared to other magic games, cod wasn't even complex to begin with, the experience was just cinematic, cod campaigns are pure cinematic, that doesn't work outside of cod realm unfortunately, people like complexity, complex systems, mechanics, gameplay, depth of gameplay, otherwise, it's a f walking sim and nobody gives a s.

 

[simpatico]

You know it's a problem when there are games out there that leave a much larger foot print that doesn't even cost a fraction of that price. Some of these studios are just burning money.

I think the game's look and design was a turn off for a lot of people. But also, marketing? I knew about the game, but I really didn't see much about the game at all. No streaming campaigns that I knew about, advertising, etc.

No joke, this has to be money laundering. I didn't see a sliver of marketing.

 

[FunkMiller]

Where do you think gaming executives get their massive salaries from?

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

"a AAA single-player shooter in today's market was a truly awful idea"​

No, your game was just generic, unappealing shit. Fuck off.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

125 mil and the resolution and performance sucked on Series X ...to this day it feels awful to play

It runs like shit on everything.
This game deserved it's failure. It has nothing to do with it being a new IP.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Holy shit. Either EA executives are utterly incompetent, or covid fucked them over real hard here. Probably both.

 

[DonF]

This has tax write off written all over it.

 

[DeepEnigma]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

They meant laundering.

 

[Buggy Loop]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

I don’t get it either. Are influencers so damn expensive now?

We didn’t see any astroturfing on GAF for this!

Someone pocketed this

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Call me crazy, but I;m thinking in today's age spending a lot on marketing is a waste of money. You get games shadowdropped that can be big sellers.

Just spend some modest amounts of moey on banner ads and chumming up with game sites and youtubers and that might be good enough. Skip most traditional advertising and media.

At least give that a try.

 

[LordCBH]

"a AAA single-player shooter in today's market was a truly awful idea"​

Maybe try just making a better game?

 

[Hot5pur]

Playing it now, it's quite nice.
Too bad the game didn't do well, the studio is quite talented.
Games are getting crazy expensive though, and I can see the appeal of making some addictive GaaS and fill it up with mtx and loot boxes.
Feels like there are some fairly simple indie games making an absolute killing...just do survival craft, maybe add some horror elements, pepper in a few waifus, you got a multi-million dollar hit right there
still, gaming is as good as it has ever been, just feels bad for some studios that can't take risks anymore, are overworking their staff, sucking the passion out of the game development process
I mean look at Rocksteady, fking hell

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Playing it now, it's quite nice.
Too bad the game didn't do well, the studio is quite talented.
Games are getting crazy expensive though, and I can see the appeal of making some addictive GaaS and fill it up with mtx and loot boxes.
Feels like there are some fairly simple indie games making an absolute killing...just do survival craft, maybe add some horror elements, pepper in a few waifus, you got a multi-million dollar hit right there
still, gaming is as good as it has ever been, just feels bad for some studios that can't take risks anymore, are overworking their staff, sucking the passion out of the game development process
I mean look at Rocksteady, fking hell

Big publishers are caught because they seemingly got to trend to big budget big selling games for sake of financials and covering their 1000s of employees and fancy head offices and mo cap studios. So they got to do a go big or go home strategy. They'd rather risk AAA budgets on a home run/strike out mentality, than single A budgets hitting four singles.

Nobody stops them from making a Hollow Knight or Terraria or Dead Cells. But to them it's not worth it. Too low brow. Too $19.99 bargain binny. If they go this route it makes all their high overhead costs and facilities a fraction of what they are worth.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

125M for what appeared to be a AA production. Starting to make sense how incredibly risk averse the industry has become and big publishers are just cranking out the same slop every year.

Isn’t this very case an evidence of the opposite - that in such a dysfunctional industry you can get $125 mln for a debut project in a super competitive genre?

 

[R6Rider]

No fucking chance in hell this game had $40 Million towards actual marketing.

 

[Z O N E]

No way this had $40m towards marketing...

I say this because I didn't even know the fucking game was out.

 

[hemo memo]

No way this had $40m towards marketing...

I say this because I didn't even know the fucking game was out.

I didn’t know the game existed.

 

[SecretAgentHam]

I thought the digital deluxe on Xbox when it was like $8 for some reason. I was really hyped to try it since it looked like a cool story, but wow did the combat feel boring and lack any punch. I really wanted to like it but I couldn’t get over the uninspired combat. I applaud them for trying something new though.

 

[Damigos]

125M thrown away. The game cant justify even a 10M budget.

 

[hussar16]

Idc I stil want order 1886 sequal sony

 

[Hudo]

yet no money left for a Command & Conquer Remastered Collection Vol 2. Hell, with that money, you could've made a new Command & Conquer game entirely.

Thanks, EA....

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Wow, they game did not look like 125m business....

 

[Valedix]

 

[mckmas8808]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

Seriously! I believe Sony stated they spent $40 million to market Spiderman 1. No way this game spent the same money on marketing.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I must have been the only person for the ads to have reached.

I remember seeing it on ad-supported TV channel streams (may have been YouTube, but I think it was TV). I remember thinking how unfortunate it was that the game having lots of particle effects in the selected clips had meant the stream quality degraded.

I guess that $40m isn't very much money to market a game now.

Edit: conversely I don't recall seeing a Spiderman 2 ad.

 

[mckmas8808]

Game dev is not cheap in US based studios so I understand that hefty production budget, but the marketing cost being $40M is bonkers.

You really think $85 million on a AAA game is hefty?

Consider the budget was half of Horizon Forbidden West and it shows... and you can kind of start to see how expensive these damn things are these days.

Why? The production budget was $85 million. That's not crazy high for a AAA game. There's a big gap between $85 million and $200 million.

 

[IDKFA]

40 mil for marketing? What marketing?

That 40mil was pissed up a wall or didn't reach the UK because this is the first time I've heard of this game. I'm not joking either.

 

[Dazraell]

It also has the dumbest title for a game Ive ever seen

Two Worlds II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days are still my favorite examples of this lol