Studio News

Learnings, Challenges, & Insights into UE5 Development: Unreal Fest 2023 Panel Recap

October 4, 2023

Our team leads chatted about our move from UE4 to UE5, what kinds of opportunities UE5 opened up, and the future of Immortals of Aveum and Unreal Engine.

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AMBITIOUS IDEAS BROUGHT TO LIFE WITH TALENTED PARTNERS

August 18, 2023

We’re practically exploding with untamed excitement for players to finally experience Immortals of Aveum™.

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Immortals of Aveum has gone gold!

August 10, 2023

Hello Battlemages! I am thrilled to announce that Immortals of Aveum™ has gone gold! That means that the game was sent off to manufacturing (yes, still a thing) and discs are being shipped to stores as we speak. This is a great moment for the team at Ascendant and myself, the culmination of work we…

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Uncover Games Industry Insights in Rise Above, Season 1 – a Podcast by Ascendant Studios

June 27, 2023

Join us as we speak with industry-leading developers behind beloved franchises like Bioshock, Star Wars, Grim Fandango, and Spider-man, where you’ll hear about their path to success and the challenges along the way.

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A message from Bret and our team

June 20, 2023

Please take a moment to read a message from Bret and our team.

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Interview: Immortals of Aveum creator Bret Robbins delves into game’s unlikely creation

May 31, 2023

In an industry with ballooning budgets and sky-high expectations, bold new ideas rarely come to the table, at least not at the highest level of AAA game development. So how did Bret Robbins pull it off with his newly formed team?

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gamesindustry.biz - making a single player magic shooter in a military world

Making a single-player magic shooter in a multiplayer military world

May 17, 2023

Ascendant’s Bret Robbins says he “didn’t really have a choice” but to make Immortals of Aveum after leaving Call of Duty development

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THE BLEEDING-EDGE TECH POWERING IMMORTALS OF AVEUM™

April 20, 2023

The developers at Ascendant Studios reveal what Unreal Engine 5.1 brings to the world of Aveum.

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Welcome to Aveum

April 14, 2023

Welcome, Magnus. It’s time for you to begin your path to join the Immortals, champion protectors of Aveum.

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Getting Started in Game Development: Resources for Aspiring Developers

April 10, 2023

There are many ways to get into the games industry but where do you start?

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The Call to Create a New IP

After 26 years in the games industry, Bret Robbins (Founder & CEO at Ascendant Studios) felt it was time to begin something new. He had spent his career working on world-famous franchises like Lord of the Rings, 007 James Bond, and directing multiple Call of Duty campaigns, but there was something about his experience creating an original IP from scratch, like Dead Space, that kept calling to him.

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Dreaming up a new game and the studio to create it

"I remember working on one of the Call of Duty levels and thinking, what if instead of a helicopter, that was a dragon. And instead of RPG explosions, those were fireballs. And instead of soldiers, we were all battle mages, firing off spells and wrecking the place.

And I stopped and thought ‘Where is that game? I want to play that game!'"

Investing in the Vision

"I had an opportunity to just sit and write for about four months. I would park myself at a small cafe and work on the game design document and the story outline. It was a time of allowing myself to think that anything was possible and I could design whatever I wanted. Since then, a lot of the ideas have changed and gotten better, but the heart of what I wrote back then is still the vision for the game today."

When a surprising opportunity strikes

"We had been going for about a month when we heard that Telltale Games was shutting down and that the entire staff had just been laid off. Someone heard that they were commiserating over at a nearby bar, so we drove over and started meeting with people.

I hired about a half dozen people that day, including my Art Director."

Building a sustainable culture

"One thing I learned over years of working at different studios is that the culture starts at the top. I don't want people to crunch and burnout, because I personally don't want to do that either. I want people to feel that they are being treated fairly and honestly. I put a high premium on being open and transparent with the team, and I think that's surprisingly rare in our industry."

A partnership to launch Immortals of Aveum

"Just when we were getting into full game production, we started to attract attention from publishers. It was a very validating moment. We chose to partner with EA because we knew they could reach the biggest audience, and their Originals label had a great track. We also kept creative control and ownership of the game, which was key for us."