As has now become known, the “magic shooter” Immortals of Avenum from EA was a huge flop for the company. The game was said to have cost $125 million, but “no one” bought it. For Twitch streamer Asmongold, the reasons are obvious.
What was known?
- Immortals of Avenum was released on August 22, 2023, for PC, Xbox, and PS5.
- That was the absolute dead zone for video games at the time, as everyone was playing Baldur’s Gate 3, waiting for Starfield, or both.
- Immortals of Avenum was released, received mixed to good reviews (via gamestar), but was hardly mentioned in public. Even the usually comprehensive website MeinMMO only had a small news article about the shooter.
There were apparently some PR actions , AnniTheDuck played it as tabletop with the Rocketbeans, but the game simply couldn’t catch on. Just as Wild Hearts did, Immortals of Avenum also turned out to be a flop for EA.
“No one bought it”
This is new: A report on layoffs in the video game industry by IGN has now focused public attention on Immortals of Avenum for the first time.
It became known that the game cost $85 million in development and $40 million for marketing, but it totally flopped and that the studio had to lay off 50 people.
Several studios had certified the project as having good chances for success. However, in reality, Immortals of Avenum fell far short of expectations despite everything.
The report emphasized that the studio had worked under good conditions, there were no microtransactions in the game, and there was a lot of talent in the team, but the idea of a “AAA single-player shooter” was simply terrible, as former employees themselves say.
A game for people who eat Fruit Loops for lunch
What does Asmongold say? For reaction streamer Asmongold, it is immediately clear at first glance at the gameplay why the magic shooter failed. He looks at the gameplay and effects are raining down:
“This is trash. Nobody played it because it’s garbage.”
It’s a game for people who eat Fruit Loops for lunch.
He then looks at gameplay from Twitch streamer Seagull and judges: Seagull, as a former pro in Overwatch, is used to such flashy effects and colors, but even he is suffering.
“Immortals of Avenum” is simply an epilepsy simulator.
220,000 simultaneous viewers on Twitch – never 1,000 players on Steam
As an example of the wasted advertising money, Asmongold then says:
- EA recruited so many streamers on release day that Immortals of Avenum had 220,000 players at peak on Twitch
- But at peak, it had a ridiculous 780 players on Steam
This is a typical trick of publishers to have everyone stream a game at the same time. But apparently, the $40 million marketing was completely wasted here.
Another victim of Baldur’s Gate 3
This is what it’s about: Asmongold is only evaluating the first impression of a few minutes of gameplay. However, the timing of the release must also have played a crucial role.
2023 is viewed in retrospect as an outstanding year for games, partly due to Baldur’s Gate 3. The mammoth game captivated players and the gaming community for months.
Some attribute the length and quality of Baldur’s Gate 3 to the reason why many games at that time were able to achieve significantly worse sales figures than expected, and as a result, studios had to close and people were laid off.
Another victim of Baldur’s Gate 3: Award-winning gaming studio from Munich gives up after 3 strong games on Steam – Too much personal burden
