Scottish VFX company Axis Studios has shut down, causing more than 160 jobs to be lost, after spending over two decades in the industry.
The company is based in Glasgow, Scotland, and was founded in 2000, and was responsible for the creation of cinematic trailers for several games. On top of working with Techland's zombie game, it also had a hand in work for Microsoft, including Halo and Gears of War.
Axis Studios Shuts Down
(Photo : Axis Studios / Screenshot taken from official Facebook account)
Other games that Axis Studios had worked on include Riot Games' League of Legends: Wild Rift and Digital Extremes' Warframe. Interpath advisory head Alistair McAlinder said that the studio was losing projects recently, which is what primarily led to the shutdown.
That was on top of an "increase in labour costs" in the industry that greatly impacted the studio. The company's directors were said to have explored various alternatives before opting to choose administration.
On top of working on video games, Axis Studios also worked in TV and film and contributed to VFX for Doctor Who, Netflix's Love, Death, & Robots, and Marvel's The Incredible Hulk.
In his statement, McAlinder added that the studio had been a choice for key production companies and has produced content for household names, according to GameDeveloper.
There have been a lot of layoffs in the video game industry in the last several years, the bulk of which happened to those who work directly on projects. VFX studios are only an arm of marketing but they are no less important to bringing any game to fans.
One work that Axis Studios worked on, the cinematic trailer for Dead Island, became controversial due to depicting a dead child and not being reflective of the game proper. But it also became very popular that Techland decided to tweak the game's content in response to players' reactions.
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The shutdown of the VFX company is expected to impact more than 160 employees and it was reported that only four people were able to be retained. The latter are kept in order to help wind up the business moving forward.
The company's workforce included people who were employed from around the world to make content for TV, film, video games, and theme parks. It also worked on brands such as Harry Potter, Luther, and Magic: The Gathering, said BBC.
State of the Video Game Industry
Axis Studios received several awards for the various work that it has done, including a Royal Television Society award as well as an Emmy.
Administrators also said that the company's work was in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic, which is when the need for animation and visual effects projects "skyrocketed."
McAlinden said that it was a "great shame to see a creative business in Scotland close its doors." He added that the combination of a decline in customer projects and increasing labor costs resulted in severe cash flow problems for the company.
Axis Studios was founded in 2000 by Richard Scott in partnership with Dana Dorian, Stuart Aitken, and Graham McKenna, according to AnimationMagazine. Companies House records also listed Scott as the studio's sole director, according to B
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