And once again a well-known and renowned studio has been hit hard. This time it’s Axis Studios in Scotland, and over 160 employees are affected.
Once again, the doors of a well-known developer are closing. This time it’s Axis Studios from Scotland, a studio that doesn’t develop games but has made a name for itself through animations and VFX, including in the gaming industry.
Axis Studios was responsible for trailers for Dead Island, Destiny, Halo, League of Legends and numerous other productions. Most recently, the studio worked on the trailers and cutscenes for Destiny 2: Lightfall. The award-winning studio has also been involved in films and TV productions such as Harry Potter, Doctor Who and Luther.
The insolvency administrator Interpath Advisory confirmed to BBCthat 162 employees have lost their jobs with immediate effect. Four employees will continue to be employed to wind down the company, which was founded in 2000.
Commenting on the reasons for the bankruptcy, Alistair McAlinden, head of Interpath Advisory in Scotland, said: “During Covid, the company experienced high demand for its services as animation and visual effects for television, film and video games soared. […] Axis has recently been impacted by a decline in customer projects as well as rising labor costs, leading to serious cash flow problems.
The management searched tirelessly for alternative solutions, but finally had to make the difficult decision to appoint an insolvency administrator.”
The crisis in the gaming industry, in which several studios had to cut staff or close down, combined with the discontinuation of several series and film productions, is now causing a lot of collateral damage.
As a reminder of the work of Axis Studios, here is the first trailer for Dead Island 2, which caused a lot of excitement at the time:
With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver brings a sequel to the zombie hunt that was indexed in Germany.
