In a year that's been drenched in top notch releases, you'd be forgiven for forgetting about Immortals of Aveum — the magic-based first-person shooter that launched back in August. The title was met with fairly middling reviews and there was talk of poor sales not long after. A shame, too, because despite some obvious flaws, the game was at least trying to do something relatively unique.
"Our business relies on selling games, and we didn't sell enough games," Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins said in an interview with Windows Central. Robbins goes on to say that the developer wants to get Immortals of Aveum on subscription services like PS Plus and Game Pass. "We don't have a date yet [...] I'm pretty sure it's going to happen," he admits.
And this seems to have become a logical next step for a lot of underperforming titles. We've seen a number of live service projects hit PS Plus over the last couple of years, for example, along with divisive games such as the new Saints Row. There's no doubt that these titles receive a boost in terms of engagement, although not all subscribers will feel like they're getting their money's worth when such games headline monthly updates.
Anyway, it certainly sounds like we can expect Immortals of Aevum to hit PS Plus at some point in the future. Would you be tempted to give it a shot through your subscription? Embrace your magical powers in the comments section below.
[source windowscentral.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 37
Unbelievable
That would be a win - I'd like to play it, but in a year as packed as this one it was never gonna be first pick.
It hurts me to think of the devs who poured their heart into this getting laid off by EA almost as soon as the game shipped. I have a history with EA and know well that they have no soul or heart, but that never stops the disappointment..
I look forward to playing this if it arrives on PSN
It'd save me $20 from buying it down the line. I'm all for it.
@Titntin to be fair, EA published it rather than developed it, and it was the developer who caused the layoffs. They said it wasn't something EA made them do, they just put all their eggs in one basket hoping this would be a bigger hit than it was and couldn't afford to keep everyone on board.
Too many games, so little time. Even at "free" I'm not sure really. Beginning a game and commiting time to finish it is a cost I often struggle to pay.
Expect this, the other desert/magic title (for something), Gollum, and good ole Superman 64.
I got a code around launch via a friend for very cheap. I haven't finished it yet, about half way through but imo, it's a very competent first person shooter with an interesting setting.
I’d spend 14 bucks on a month of extra to try this out.
Immortals of Freemium
No surprise there, any game that sells poorly is a prime candidate to end up in a subscription service since it's such an obvious way for developers to recoup costs.
That said, it must have done particularly bad if the CEO is already openly discussing the move.
@Somapix Thanks for the correction. But its the Publishers duty to find a good window for sale and publicise and market the game, both things EA did not do very well, so I still feel EA are not off the hook!
I'm still bitter they cancelled dungeon Keeper 3 before we had a chance to make it, lol. 23 years later, I still cant let it go....
That actually would make a lot of sense. And that would help me from pulling the trigger on the Black Friday sale price for it right now. $35 seems like an amazing deal, but if it's gonna hit Plus then maybe it's best to wait. Question is, how long?
@Titntin don't get me wrong, I'm not big defender of EA and they definitely played a part in this, but they just can't take all the blame for this one (but they deserve plenty of blame for various ills across the industry in general and for sure have a history of treating developers poorly).
@LazyLombax My thoughts exactly. We've had several of those, but nothing changes.
I want to play this but have held off buying because I thought PS Plus seemed inevitable.
Wouldn't mind it on Plus, but I'll also get it on disc once it drops to 20€.
I've been interested in this since day 1 but never bought it for this exact reason.
Yes I'm part of the problem, but this is what subscriptions has done to the industry. Tailored me to be patient and just wait for games to come to the service. Worked for Horizon 2 and Miles Morales and many others....
Meh. It's never looked appealing to me since first seeing it and all the other gameplay vids since that. Sure it looks nice and some interesting color magic sparkles with UE5. Even if it released in a far less packed year I still don't think it would have done any better, maybe marginally better?. It's a brand new IP so kudos for trying. If its not something like 100GB install sure I'll try it on Plus at least and maybe end up enjoying it? who knows
Took a little while to click with me, but I ended up really enjoying it.
Great. Give value to the over-priced subscription service, by offering schlocky, underperforming games as monthly offerings. Thanks, Sony... 🙄
I'm a magic/wizarding junkie in video games, but I passed on this one once more of the gameplay was revealed.
I was hoping a 1st person magic game would have more variety in the spells, but when the spells are just different colors of magic beams, it's not interesting. At least having it on PS Plus may compel me to try it for an hour.
I'll admit, I was intrigued by it when it released, but after reading the reviews I said to myself "it'll be on PS Plus soon enough" and well...
it will surely come to EAplay first next june
Been playing the trial of Immortals of Aveum. It looks and runs better than I expected - I am guessing the series of patches it has gotten since launch have helped with the overall polish.
The only drawback, so far, is that it all feels like something out of a book from the Young Adult section.
After playing the trial I ended up buying it over the weekend as it’s currently reduced. I’ve heard it can become a bit of a grind after a while, but so far (around 3-4 hours played) I’m enjoying it. They should have released it for about £50, charging £70 for a new IP was never a good idea.
@DonkeyFantasy Colin Moriarty commented on this on one of his podcasts that he has some info on how much this game bombed. He did not provide any specific data but said something along the lines of "completely bombed, like not even 50.000 copies sold bombed".
Considering the Price games have gone up to as well as ALL the other options to fill our gaming time (Sub services, Backwards Compatibility and Sale), in a 'cost of living' crises, a game has to be something 'special' or at least a well known and beloved IP.
This looked like a game of Style over Substance - some generic plot with generic characters and generic game-play wrapped in a shiny UE5 aesthetic with lots of shiny/bright particle effects to 'wow'. Nothing really that made me think it was worth buying at launch, something to pick up maybe in some bargain bin sale or maybe try it on EA Play/PS+/Game Pass when it eventually comes to these sub services.
Even without Sub services, I wouldn't have bought this at launch with all the other great games we have seen - I couldn't afford to buy 'every' game and still pay bills, buy food etc etc. I'd rather spend £70 on buying several older games now on sale I missed than pay the 'it's a new release tax' to play it in the first 'months' of release when it will be much less in 6-12months with more content and possibly better performance due to patches...
If it doesn't sell enough, that tells me they were either asking far too much or not offering what people wanted/expect for that price - that there was better options and/or better value elsewhere. It's also not exactly 'old' either and games can sell for years and years. Ubisoft would often drop prices quickly to find the price point the game will sell at consistently enough to bring in revenue when games aren't selling and others don't drop prices at all because they keep selling at a higher price....
I get this game mixed up with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Atlas Fallen. There’s too many AA major fantasy games that came out around the same time. 😅
@DonkeyFantasy They already know how many copies are sold.
Was hoping for this. I don't think it's worth the pricetag but I wouldn't mind playing it eventually.
I would consider trying this on Plus, but frankly was never particularly drawn to it aesthetically.
I played it, finished it. I thought it was pretty good. It’s a bit of a metroidvania FPS, give it a try!
I gave it a try with the free trial option but I dunno. I looks good and everything but the story just didn't get me and the characters are too cringy... Clearly it wants to be epic and heavy but fails to do so. Unfortunately.
ill try it for sure with psplus.
but with that much games coming out, i cant afford to put 100$ on every games at launch.
i might have bought it on a big sale, buy higher chances are not.
game looks like a lot of fun for sure.
I'd definitely give it a shot if it hits ps+. Not sure if it was a game I'd buy on sale eventually but being on the service, that's appealing.
That’s be a great Plus game, much better than Saints Row.
I hope that really happens!!
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