It appears we’ll have to wait for a while to play Ascendant Studios’ debut title.
Immortals of Aveum, a highly anticipated title described as “Call of Duty meets magic”, was scheduled for a July 20 launch. Unfortunately, it has since been pushed back by a month to August 22 for further polishing.
Thankfully, the announcement comes at a time when gamers are much more welcoming of delays, especially in light of the recent events.
If nothing else, there’s a silver lining to this. More time provides the game’s creators with more chances to polish the game, optimize performance across platforms, and ensure a strong launch.
Bret Robbins, the founder and chief executive of Ascendant Studios, has issued a heartfelt statement about the delay. He acknowledged the excited and inspiring reactions from players following the game’s previews and trailers at the PlayStation Showcase and Summer Game Fest before emphasizing the importance of realizing their ambitious vision in its entirety. He stated, “We owe it to ourselves and to you to get this right.”
With a team forged amidst the storm of a global pandemic, and fuelled by the powerful Unreal Engine 5, they’ve pushed the boundaries of what they believed was possible. A team studded with experienced developers boasting pedigree from such illustrious franchises as BioShock, Borderlands, and Telltale Games narrative adventures, finally has their maiden voyage within sight.
Immortals of Aveum offers a deep dive into a richly textured world where science meets sorcery. Players don the mantle of a potent battlemage, the spearhead of an elite unit of power-infused soldiers, that’s waging war in an existential conflict. It marries high-stakes physical combat and complex magic systems that will surely delight fans of both genres.
Despite the slight delay, the excitement and anticipation surrounding Immortals of Aveum haven’t dimmed. As a matter of fact, with the glimpses provided by the trailers and the buzz generated by the gaming community, one might argue that the delay has only amplified the sense of expectation.
Of course, not to play the devil’s advocate here, but the same thing happened to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The sequel was also delayed by a couple of months to give Respawn Entertainment more time for additional polishing. The result? A game that got great reviews but had more than its fair share of technical issues at launch. Although Electronic Arts vowed to fix the game (and they’ve done an excellent job so far), Immortals of Aveum isn’t Star Wars Jedi: Survivor nor is Ascendant Studios Respawn Entertainment.
It’s hard to say if audiences will be more forgiving of Immortals of Aveum if it doesn’t perform well at launch, but the best thing to do right now is to delay it further if the game is anything less than perfect by August 22.
The good news is that Immortals of Aveum hasn’t gone gold yet, so there’s still plenty of time to push it back to a later date.
If that does happen, we’re just hoping EA and Ascendant Studios aren’t brave enough to risk releasing it in September or October, where no magic will save it from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Starfield, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, among others, no matter how polish it is.
