REACTION - Volition’s closure is a tremendous waste of talent, and a huge misstep by Embracer
All aboard the stupid train.
By Jonathan Garrett
31/08/23
We certainly didn’t see that coming. Today, Embracer announced that Saints Row and Red Faction developer Volition is shutting down, effective immediately. This short sighted and poorly timed move comes hot on the heels of the recent Saints Row reboot making its way onto PS+ Essential, two premium expansions and a pile of updates.
The game itself didn’t launch in a particularly good state, with reviews and general sentiment reflecting that. But the steady effort to make improvements, off the back of a thirty year development legacy, makes today’s announcement all the more egregious. Embracer only acquired them five years ago, amid a flurry of other high profile acquisitions including Crystal Dynamics, Gearbox, and Eidos Montreal. They have clearly over extended themselves, and now hundreds of talented developers are paying the price for their callous approach.
This is exactly what we were afraid of. We wish everyone at Volition all the very best for their future.
TARPS?
At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.
