New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS): Ascendant Studios, the creator of the first-person shooter video game Immortals of Aveum, has laid off nearly half of its staff, weeks after the release of the game, the media reported.

According to Polygon, citing sources, company's CEO Bret Robbins announced the layoffs in a meeting on Thursday in which around 40 people were laid off from the estimated workforce of 80 to 100 people.

The job cuts occurred due to the poor sales of Immortals of Aveum, which were said to be necessary to keep the studio running, the report said.

The game was released on August 22 on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

Electronic Arts published the first-person shooter as an EA Original title. It was praised originally as a "groundbreaking" independent AAA shooter. But when it was released, the game received mixed reviews from critics, who said it rehashed triple-A tropes, according to the report.

The game witnessed a continuous decline after its release.

In July, video game developer CD Projekt Red (CDPR), who developed franchises like The Witcher and Cyberpunk, announced to lay off nearly 9 per cent of its workforce, or around 100 people.

The company also said that the job cuts will not be immediate as some employees will be let go as late as Q1 2024.

In March, Electronic Arts laid off around 6 per cent of its workforce amid global macro-economic uncertainties.

At the time, EA CEO Andrew Wilson told employees that as the company drives greater focus across its portfolio, "we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams".