The GamesIndustry.biz portal reported that the Axis VFX studio in Scotland has closed after 24 years of operation. Its name probably won’t mean anything to a simple gamer, but the game trailers released by the company are known to many.
Image Source: Deep Silver
Axis Studios was best known for its cinematic announcement trailer for the original Dead Island, which showed the dramatic events of a not-so-successful family vacation in reverse order.
The three-minute video (watch it in upscaled 4K here) captivated gamers and critics, and won an award at the Cannes Lions festival of creativity in 2011.
Axis Studios’ other projects include trailers for Halo 5: Guardians, Gears 5, Deathloop, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Magic: The Gathering and Warframe, as well as work on the anthology series Love, Death and Robots and the Doctor Who series.
Axis assisted in the creation of the Marvel’s Blade announcement trailer (Image source: Bethesda Softworks)
Axis Studios was founded in 2000 and was based in the Scottish city of Glasgow. By the time it closed on July 15, 2024, the studio had 162 employees – all of them were fired as a result.
Alistair McAlinden, head of Interpath Advisory (in charge of corporate restructuring), regrets that Axis Studios had to close its doors, and explained the reasons for what happened.
According to McAlinden, Axis Studios has recently experienced a reduction in the number of partnership projects and an increase in labor costs, which has led to serious financial problems. It was not possible to overcome them.