It’s the end of a three-decade run for developer Volition. Revealed two days ago and commented on publicly by the studio today, Volition has been shuttered by parent company Embracer Group, effective immediately. Volition put out the following statement regarding the closure on the company’s X account:
A letter to our community. pic.twitter.com/vtFM7szLbN
— Volition (@DSVolition) September 1, 2023
The studio was founded in 1993 as Parallax Software and launched with successful titles like Descent and Descent 2 on PC. Eventually, the studio split into Volition and Outrage Entertainment, with the former going on to helm popular titles like Free Space, Red Faction, the Summoner series, and, of course, Saints Row. It seems that the lukewarm response from fans to the recent Saints Row reboot might be at the heart of Embracer’s decision to close down Volition. The development and release of the 2022 series installment was fraught with negative backlash from fans and met with seeming hostility from the studio itself in online discourse. It’s a sad end to a studio with quite a pedigree of beloved games and strong talent.
Source: Volition X Account & GamesIndustry.biz