Developer Volition, nearly precisely one yr after placing out the controversial Saints Row reboot, is being shut down. The closure is efficient instantly.
Volition’s shutdown comes after a number of tepidly acquired video games
After some workers posted about it online, the studio put out a put up on its LinkedIn web page formally saying the ceasing of operations. It notes that Volition has labored proudly for 30 years and been pushed by its ardour for its group. Nonetheless, Embracer Group introduced a restructuring program in June that led to the analysis of the staff, which, in flip, then led to the developer’s demise. Volition famous that it was going to “present job help” to assist its workers transition to different jobs earlier than thanking its followers as soon as once more.
This shutdown comes after turbulent occasions on the studio since its final two video games had been important and industrial flops. 2017’s Brokers of Mayhem wasn’t acquired warmly and was criticized for its trite mission design, inflicting it to earn a mean rating of 67. Deep Silver was reportedly disillusioned in its gross sales, which led to a spherical of layoffs.
This negativity compounded for the 2022 Saints Row reboot. It was additionally poorly acquired by many due to its dated open world and quite a few bugs, which led to a mean rating of 63. Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors expressed his disappointment with the open-world sport shortly after its launch. In February 2023, the corporate went a step additional and stated it had a “subpar” return on funding.
Volition spent the final yr patching Saints Row, although. The updates squashed bugs, added options, and addressed issues. It solely simply wrapped up its help for the title earlier in August with its third premium growth, A Music of Ice and Mud. Saints Row additionally simply launched on Steam and is about to return to PlayStation Plus Important.
Volition was based in 1993 as Parallax Software program Company. It got here into the Volition identify in 1996 after it break up in two whereas making the first-person shooter Descent 2. Despite the fact that Volition is generally recognized for Saints Row, it additionally developed the Pink Faction video games, in addition to the RPG franchise Summoner and house fight simulator collection FreeSpace.