Immortals of Aveum

Introduction

Immortals of Aveum is Ascendant Studios' single-player magic-FPS, published by Electronic Arts and released on 21 August 2023 at NZ$99.95, currently 80% off at NZ$19.99. Players take on Jak, a young battlemage drawn into a magical war, wielding spell-casting gauntlets in place of conventional firearms. The game is arguably better known for its commercial failure than for its actual quality — it sits at 72% positive ("Mostly Positive") across 2,071 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 586 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.

A genuinely severe commercial failure, independently confirmed

This review checked the scale of the game's commercial reputation directly rather than taking it on faith. Reporting at the time put the game's total cost, development plus marketing, at roughly $125 million. Ascendant Studios laid off half its staff within months of the game's slow launch, and furloughed a majority of its remaining workforce in April 2024. In an unusual move, EA later began directing 100% of the game's net sales revenue to the studio — a rare arrangement reflecting just how badly the original commercial terms had gone. This is a genuinely severe, well-documented failure by any standard this review has checked this session.

A reception considerably warmer than the failure suggests

Set against that backdrop, this review found actual player sentiment notably more positive than the "flop" narrative implies. Story and dialogue draw the most consistent criticism, appearing in 50 of the 100 negative reviews read — "the story and dialogue feels like a cringe Disney movie," reads one representative 2023 review. Poor optimisation is a clear secondary complaint (19 of 100), with even capable systems reportedly struggling. But combat is frequently defended, including within negative reviews themselves: "combat is decent, with nice feedback," reads one review otherwise critical of repetitive enemy variety. This review found multiple recent reviewers going further, expressing explicit sympathy for the game's commercial fate while still recommending it: "Combat is quite fun. Story is fine but enjoyable... Shame it didn't get a better reception at launch," reads one 2026 review — a distinctive pattern this review found in few other titles covered this session.

Verdict

Immortals of Aveum's reputation as one of 2023's biggest commercial disasters is real and this review independently confirmed its scale — a roughly $125 million budget and severe staff layoffs make it a genuinely consequential failure by any standard. But its actual Steam reception, holding steady around 71-72% positive across its full lifetime, tells a different and more forgiving story: clichéd dialogue and rough optimisation are real, consistent weaknesses, but the core magic-gauntlet combat draws real, repeated defence even from critical reviewers. Worth trying at its current deep discount — a genuinely decent game whose commercial failure outpaced its actual quality.