"I don't mind at all" Immortals of Aveum developer responds to "muscle mommy" posts

Ascendant Studios' Jim Ingraham talks to GLHF about Immortals of Aveum and the fan reaction

When Immortals of Aveum showed off its latest trailer during the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase, a lot of fans had the same reaction: “Muscle mommy.” One of the main characters in Immortals of Aveum, and superior officer to protagonist Jak, just so happens to be a lady that spends a decent amount of time in the gym – and I respect it. What good are fancy spells if you can’t dodge and weave when it comes down to it?

Luckily, Ascendant Studios’ Jim Ingraham was there to give me his perspective: “I don’t mind at all.” Jim is the UI lead at Ascendant Studios, and previously worked on the BioShock series.

“I love our characters, the wide variety of cool characters in our game. With our game, we’ve intended to make something unique and different, and I think our characters really speak to that,” Ingraham tells GLHF during an Immortals of Aveum preview event.

Immortals of Aveum is an FPS that totally eschews traditional weaponry in favor of magical abilities. Three different spell types – Red, Green, and Blue – are always available to Jak to dispose of foes, and there are also a few other unique abilities that get thrown into the mix, like a whip that pulls enemies into close range.

“We have some core pillars, and two of our core pillars were military and high fantasy,” Ingraham explains in regard to the simple RGB naming scheme for Jak’s abilities. “Military is very streamlined and utilitarian, and some of the language and verbiage was pushed more in that direction, to preserve that aspect.”

Even in the short preview session there were plenty of things to keep in mind – the three core spell types, the extra abilities, double jumps, hovering, and you can alter the abilities of your three main spells with different gear you can equip. It can be a lot to keep track of, but Ingraham isn’t concerned.

“What I am expecting and what I’m excited about is seeing how players experiment with things,” Ingraham tells us. “We’ve got sigils that refine your magic, and the game centers around the idea that Jak has manifested this magic [...] and this magic is sort of like Cyclops from X-Men, you’ve got all this power, but it’s hard to control and focus. Once you have these sigils they allow you to hone this magic and use it in a very directed, very intentional way.

“That’s one of the things I’m excited about, going onto YouTube and seeing these unique ways of playing that I never would’ve thought of.”

Immortals of Aveum is action-packed and it’s easy to imagine it in a multiplayer setting, but this has always been a single-player story from the outset. “We’ve always had this real hard emphasis on story, and we want that core experience to be great in every aspect,” he says.

For more on Immortals of Aveum make sure to read our full preview impressions, and keep your eyes peeled for when it launches on July 20, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.