Volition Games has announced that its parent company, Embracer Group, is shutting the studio down. The studio was the developer behind the latest Saints Row reboot.
In an update on LinkedIn, Volition said, “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 continued, “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.”
Volition Games is closing, effective immediately https://t.co/Dob9NBW7He pic.twitter.com/5dr7zbHcgA
— Wario64 (@Wario64) August 31, 2023
While it’s mostly known for Saints Row these days, Volition is a historic studio dating back to the mid-90s, with classics including Descent, Freespace, and Red Faction. It was able to survive THQ’s bankruptcy in 2012 before being acquired by Koch Media. Its most recent release was the reboot of Saints Row, which drew mixed reviews. Embrace has confirmed that it still owns the Saints Row and Red Faction franchises.
Earlier this year, Embracer Group announced that it would start to close studios and cancel games as a $2 billion deal fell through at the last moment. While Embracer didn’t disclose who the partner was, it was reportedly Savvy Games Group, a Saudi government funded company.
Embracer Group has been on an acquisition spree over the past few years, including being the owners of Crystal Dynamics and Gearbox, providing valuable video game properties such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Borderlands.
Volition isn’t the only studio that announced it would be closing. Earlier this week, Mimimi Games revealed that it would slowly shut down over the next few months as Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew would be its final game.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
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