A group of around 20 developers formerly of Ascendant Studios, including its former CEO, have joined Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures to form a new studio in San Rafael, California: Absurd Marin.
In a press release today, Absurd Ventures announced its new studio would be led by Ascendant Studios founder and former game director on Immortals of Aveum Bret Robbins. The team will work on a “story-driven action-adventure” game that will be separate from Absurd Ventures’ other projects, which collectively take place in the A Better Paradise universe.
Absurd’s addition of around 20 Ascendant employees comes after Ascendant was hit with dramatic layoffs last fall, following the launch of Immortals of Aveum. Nearly half the studio was let go, around 40 people total, due to poor sales of Immortals of Aveum. At the time, the cuts were said to have been necessary to keep the studio open. However, earlier this year, reports circulated that nearly all of the remaining staff at Ascendant had been furloughed as well, just months after Robbins told GamesIndustry.biz that the “story of Immortals isn’t written yet.”
It is unclear whether or not Ascendant Studios still exists now that its CEO and most of its employees have seemingly moved on. The studio and game’s official X/Twitter account’s last post was on August 13. IGN has reached out to Ascendant Studios for comment.
Absurd Ventures was founded by Rockstar co-founder and GTA writer Dan Houser after he left Rockstar back in 2020, working alongside radio host and former GTA writer and producer Lazlow Jones. We spoke to Jones back in August about the venture, including his exit from Rockstar, his partnership with Houser, and how A Better Paradise will explore themes of artificial intelligence and addiction.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
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