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The studio behind the Saints Row and Red Faction series has been closed by the studio parent company, Embracer Group, “effective immediately.” Coming shortly after the Illinois-based company celebrated its 30th anniversary in June.
According to Volition, the closure is due to a n overall restructuring program at Embracer. In June, the Swedish gaming company and media conglomerate announced plans to close multiple studios and cancel games in wake of a $2 Billion deal that fell through.
Here’s Volition’s full statement on the studio’s closure:
The Volition team has proudly created world-class entertainment for fans around the globe for 30 years. We’ve been driven by a passion for our community and always worked to deliver joy, surprise, and delight.
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.
To help our team, we are working to provide job assistance and help smooth the transition for our Volition family members. We thank our customers and fans around the world for all the love and support over the years. You will always be in our hearts.
According to some reports, the closure of Volition was quick and unexpected. “An “emergency meeting” was called on Thursday morning and the studio was closed minutes later,” a now former-employee told Polygon.
Volition was formed in 1993 (originally called Parallax Software) where they developed the Descent series, eventually moving on with THQ to develop Red Faction, Summoner, The Punisher video game, and Saints Row. The studio seemed to have issues gaining traction again after THQ filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, experiencing flops including the Saints Row spin-off Agents of Mayhem and the Saints Row reboot.
