Crafting a Magical Single-Player Shooter Experience

After leaving his role at Sledgehammer, Bret Robbins founded Ascendant Studios with a clear vision: to create a single-player focused game that combined his expertise in shooters with a magical twist. The result is Immortals of Aveum, set to launch on July 20 through EA Originals. Robbins' background in directing single-player campaigns for Call of Duty and his experience as creative director on Dead Space informed his decision to prioritize single-player storytelling in his new game. Despite the prevailing trend towards multiplayer experiences, Robbins believes that single-player games can still captivate audiences and provide a unique, immersive experience. He notes that successful single-player games like God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Assassin's Creed Odyssey have helped revitalize the format. Robbins' vision for Immortals of Aveum was to create a game that blended the best elements of shooters with the excitement of magic, resulting in a unique gaming experience. The development process involved refining the core gameplay, experimenting with magical abilities, and finding the right balance between accessibility and innovation. Robbins and his team spent several months working on a prototype to perfect the game's mechanics, and their efforts eventually caught the attention of EA. With Immortals of Aveum, Robbins aims to provide a fresh take on the shooter genre, one that combines the visceral feel of traditional shooters with the thrill of magical abilities. He believes that fans of his previous work on Call of Duty will appreciate the game's unique blend of action and fantasy, and that the game's accessibility will appeal to a broad audience.