It’s sad to watch a developer you love spiral, even after releasing hit after hit. The Saints Row franchise is something that many gamers have grown up with, and Red Faction pushed the limits of many different consoles with detailed and destructible environments. However, after the less-than-stellar Saints Row reboot failed to meet expectations, Embracer Group has decided that Volition Studios is to be no more.
A post shared on Linkedin has quickly begun gaining traction on X (formerly known as Twitter), detailing the reason behind the closure. While the reboot of Saint’s Row did not go as planned, it seems that Embracer Group almost had the closure notice planned during a more significant event happening in the Social Media echo chamber.
While it may have been purely coincidence, the fact that the closure notice went live just as the Starfield review embargo started to lift feels as if they were trying to keep this information as low down as possible. However, this is purely speculation, as nothing is pointing in this particular direction, but there is a chance that this could partly be the reason for the timing.
Visual Effects artist Ryan Hoss also shared the unfortunate news on his X profile, confirming that it was a full studio closure. The most upsetting part to me is on the official Volition website, the most recent post before their unfortunate Farewell is a celebration of 30 years in the industry. While Saint’s Row may not have been the game it could have been, it’s always sad to see a studio lose plenty of talented artists. We can only hope that everyone lands on their feet quickly and is back to work doing the things they love as soon as possible.
