Axis Studio, known for creating the original Dead Island trailer in 2011, has just announced its closing, and all 162 employees will be laid off.
Axis Studio has been a foothold in gaming VFX since 2000, and today, that company is shuttering its doors while also laying off all 162 employees currently working for the studio. Axis was the largest VFX studio in Scotland, with credits in some of the biggest gaming franchises, most notably the cinematic trailer released for the original Dead Island in 2011. Fans claimed the trailer was incredibly close to a movie trailer’s quality, and it can be seen just below.
Only days into the tenure of Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs of Interpath Advisory, who have been appointed as joint administrators to Axis Productions Limited and Axis VFX Limited, Axis Studios has announced its closure. McAlinden said, “It is a great shame to see a creative business in Scotland close its doors,” including, “Axis has been a studio of choice for key production companies and has produced content for household names such as the BBC, Netflix and Blizzard Entertainment. The company experienced a high demand for its services during COVID as animation and visual effects for TV, film and videogames skyrocketed,” giving Axis Studio credit.
However, it seems that wasn’t enough as days after the appointment of the ‘joint administrators’ Axis has declared they’re shuttering their doors. Axis is responsible for bringing some of the most popular worlds to life, including titles in the Halo franchise, Gears of War, Warframe, and more. While the closure claims all 162 employees will be laid off, the report insists a few employees will be held back for a time to “assist with the orderly wind down and transfer of knowledge following the appointment.”
While Axis Studios appears to have closed its doors for the last time, the appointed co-administrators have declared their focus for the interim is to “give employees support in the first instance”, so if any studios are interested in the workers currently at Axis Studio are encouraged to contact Interpath Advisory to help keep the projects from being lost. Fans can find more info from the Scottish Financial News site.
