Highlights
- Volition, the developer of the Saints Row franchise, is being closed down by Embracer Group as part of its restructuring program.
- The underperforming launch of the new Saints Row reboot likely played a significant role in this decision.
- Volition had previously struggled with sales on Agents of Mayhem and faced issues with developing the Saints Row reboot, leading to middling reviews and estrangement from the franchise's core audience.
The developer of the Saints Row franchise is being shut down, as Embracer Group has gone ahead with the decision to close Volition as part of its restructuring program. After announcing that the original game and Saints Row 2 would not be getting remakes or remasters, fans of the franchise were worried about Volition's immediate future, and it would seem that those fears were well-founded. Though the new Saints Row reboot had a DLC roadmap up until August 2023, its underperforming launch likely played a major role in Embracer Group's decision, and the franchise has been indefinitely shelved as a result.
Volition had previously struggled with sales on Agents of Mayhem. The subsequent issues it had with developing the Saints Row reboot only to be met with middling reviews, as well as estrangement from the franchise's core audience, did little to recoup the game's ambitious budget. While fans saw the writing on the wall that the Saints Row franchise was in jeopardy, the announcement that Volition is closing has been shocking nonetheless.
The announcement was made on LinkedIn, with Volition stating that it was proud of the work its team has done over the past three decades. Volition thanked fans for their many years of support, and announced that it would help its former developers transition into new employment opportunities elsewhere. Though Embracer's decision is effective immediately, the restructuring program of its studios has been internally known since June, which hopefully gave Volition's employees enough time to prepare. Embracer Group previously shut down a studio less than a year old, most likely as part of the same restructuring program.
Though Saints Row is undoubtedly a big casualty, Embracer obtained the rights to Lord of the Rings in its latest acquisition spree, as its decentralized network of IPs continues to grow. Volition may have closed its doors forever, but ownership of the Saints Row franchise still belongs to the Embracer Group, and the Swedish video game company may decide to revisit it in the future.
With Volition closing, any hopes of releasing the long-anticipated patch to the PC version of Saints Row 2 have also died. Considered by many to be the best game in the Saints Row franchise, its release on PC was marred by crippling performance issues that were never quite fixed. It is never easy to witness the death of a once-beloved studio, and chances are that Embracer Group may still have more difficult announcements ahead, but Volition's accomplishments with the Saints Row franchise will forever stand as a testament to its creativity and unique style.