The animation and visual effects studio responsible for creating some incredible pieces of content for Halo Infinite, as well as other Halo titles and multiple other major franchises, is shutting down. Axis Studios, which created a wide variety of visual content for Halo Infinite, including the campaign's opening cinematic cutscene and the Season 1 multiplayer intro featuring Spartan Commander Laurette Agryna, is closing after 24 years of operation.

Founded in 2000 in Glasgow, Scotland, Axis Studios was an Emmy-winning animation and visual effects studio that worked on a variety of content for video games, TV, film, and theme parks. Growing to include offices in Bristol and London, the studio was behind several notable high-profile projects, including the cutscenes for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, along with several other Destiny 2 expansions. Axis Studios is also the creator of the episode "The Tall Grass" in Season 2 of Love, Death + Robots.

Axis Studios had been Scotland's leading animation and VFX studio, with its closure leading to the loss of more than 160 jobs, effective immediately. According to a report by the BBC, the studio had a surge of projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a decrease in customer projects as well as an increase in labor costs is resulting in unresolvable cash flow issues. In addition to creating multiple cinematics such as Halo Inifnite's Gamescom 2021 trailer, Axis Studios was responsible for content in other Halo series entries, including Halo 4: Spartan Ops and Halo 5: Guardians.

Axis Studios is unfortunately shutting down. They were responsible for a variety of Halo trailers and cutscenes
byu/Haijakk inhalo

Beyond its work on the Halo series, Axis worked on other AAA shooter franchises, including Call of Duty, Warframe, and League of Legends. The studio is also the one behind Valorant's popular "Duality" trailer, which dropped along with the Duality player card code during the Valorant Champions Tour Masters in 2021. Those redemption codes didn't run smoothly, however, which ended up leading to all Valorant players receiving the Duality card.

Axis Studios most recently worked on an ad campaign for the mobile title Clash of Clans featuring EA Sports FC 24 cover star Erling Haaland, turning him into a game character. While an entirely different art style than the Halo series, it goes to show the defunct studio's dynamic capabilities, making it all the more a shame that it's closing its doors after almost a quarter of a century of creating some of the more impressive video game cinematics in recent years.

Posted: Jul 21, 2024 2:00 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/axis-studios-halo-destiny-valorant-cinematics-closing/