Jul 16, 2024

Axis, Scotland's largest animation/VFX studio, goes out of business, 162 jobs lost.

Axis Studios, Scotland's largest animation and VFX company, has collapsed, leaving 162 jobs lost and all production halted; four employees remain to manage the studio's closure.

The company's collapse was attributed to “severe cash flow problems.”

The Glasgow-based company was founded 24 years ago by Richard Scott, Dana Dorrian, Stuart Aitken, and Graham McKenna. At its peak, the company employed over 400 people.

The company is widely known for producing cinematics and trailers for games, sometimes becoming as iconic as the games themselves, such as the trailer for the zombie survival video game Dead Island (2011). Axis has produced cinematics and trailers for Recent titles for which Axis has produced cinematics and trailers include “Sackboy: A Big Adventure,” “Palia,” “Clash of Clans: Hammer Jam,” “Halo Infinite,” and “Valorant.”

Axis also produces episodic content, animated feature films, and VFX for film and television. The Lost in Oz series for Prime Video, Scrooge: for Netflix, as well as multiple episodes of Netflix's Love Death + Robots (“Mason's Rats” and “The Tall Grass”), the Tom Hanks film Otto and VFX/compositing for Aardman Animations' “Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon.”

The company was put into administration and an outside liquidator was brought in to manage the company and determine its future.

“It is very disappointing to see a creative Scottish business shut down,” said Alistair McAlinden, head of Interpath Advisory in Scotland and co-trustee.

McAlinden added: “We are very sorry to see the business close.

Axis is the studio of choice for major production companies and has produced content for well-known companies such as the BBC, Netflix, and Blizzard Entertainment During COVID, animation and visual effects for television, film, and video games During COVID, the company experienced a surge in animation and visual effects for television, film, and video games, and experienced high demand for its services.

Unfortunately, however, Axis has recently been experiencing serious cash flow problems, affected by declining client projects and increasing labor costs. The directors worked tirelessly to find alternative solutions, but ultimately had to make the difficult decision to seek the appointment of a receiver.

Axis is the second major British animation studio to be forced to close in recent months due to financial difficulties. Factory Transmedia, a stop-motion studio in the Manchester area, closed store last April due to “difficult market conditions.”