Volition Games, Developers of Saints Row, Shutting Down Effective Immediately

By Hope Pisoni  |  August 31, 2023 | 6:00pm
Video Games News Volition Games
Volition Games, Developers of Saints Row, Shutting Down Effective Immediately

Volition Games has announced that their parent company, Embracer Group, has shut down the studio effective immediately.

The studio, best known for developing the Saints Row and Red Faction series, announced their closure via a statement released on the company’s LinkedIn page this morning.

“This past June, Embracer Group announced a restructuring program to strengthen Embracer and maintain its position as a leader in the video game industry. As part of that program, they evaluated strategic and operational goals and made the difficult decision to close Volition effective immediately,” the statement reads.

Based on this statement, Volition is the second victim of juggernaut conglomerate Embracer Group’s planned cost-cutting restructuring measures, including layoffs, studio closures, and cancellations, announced in June in response to a major deal falling through with the Saudi government-funded Savvy Games Group. Embracer had previously shut down new studio Campfire Cabal earlier this month before they had even managed to release their first game, making Volition the first well-established studio confirmed to be impacted by closures.

Employees at Volition appear to have been informed of their oncoming layoffs last-minute, with some, including VFX artist Ryan Hoss and QA Analyst Corey Strobbe, taking to Twitter less than an hour before the closure’s official announcement to report that they were being suddenly laid off.

“I have been affected by today’s full studio closure of Volition. So proud of the work me and my team did during my 7 years there,” Hoss said. “Having said that, I’m looking for a new position as a senior/lead VFX artist or art manager. Any leads would be appreciated.”

Later in their statement on LinkedIn, Volition stated that they are “working to provide job assistance and help smooth the transition for our volition family members.” However, with their employment suddenly being upended, employees are still being forced to scramble looking for jobs.

“I don’t think NDA matters anymore at this point.  I’m out of a job and if anyone can give me any leads on QA positions, I could really use a few,” Strobbe tweeted.

Volition has been consistently releasing games for the past 30 years, surviving the closure of their former parent company THQ and acquisitions by Deep Silver and later Embracer Group. Their closure comes after the release of last year’s Saints Row reboot to mixed reception.

Embracer Group’s restructuring is proving to be one of the most major fallouts the industry has seen in some time, with over 100 studios under the conglomerate’s belt that could potentially be affected. With this only being the first major announcement so far, it is unknown just how wide the scope of the impacts will turn out to be.

 
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