Scotland's largest VFX company, Axis, shuts down
Its credits include Dead Island's famous "backwards" announcement trailer
Animation and VFX company Axis Studios has closed down, laying off 162 people.
Perhaps best known in games for the stunning "backwards" Dead Island cinematic teaser, Glasgow-based Axis called in the administrations yesterday, July 15, and all production has ceased.
Axis also worked on some of the industry's biggest franchises, including Halo, Gears of War, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Magic: The Gathering, and Warframe.
It's TV credits include Doctor Who, Love, Death & Robots, and The Incredible Hulk.
"It is a great shame to see a creative business in Scotland close its doors," said Alistair McAlinden, head of Interpath Advisory in Scotland and joint administrator.
"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.
"Unfortunately, however, Axis has more recently been impacted by a decline in customer projects, as well as increases in labour costs which have resulted in severe cash flow problems. The directors worked tirelessly to explore alternative solutions, but ultimately had to take the difficult decision to seek the appointment of administrators."