Volition, the studio behind , Agents of Mayhem, and Red Faction Guerilla has announced that it's going to be closed down "effective immediately" amidst mass layoffs at the company.
Last year, Volition released Saints Row, a reboot of its most popular and well-known series that aimed to reinvent the Third Street Saints and bring them back into the limelight. As you're probably aware by now, that isn't what happened, with the reboot receiving middling reviews and .
It was previously announced back in November of last year that Volition was going to be transferred to Gearbox Entertainment so that the studio could assist it with some of its upcoming releases, but that's no longer going to be the case. , confirms that Embracer Group has decided to shut Volition down "effective immediately".
The statement reads, "The Volition team has proudly created world-class entertainment for fans around the globe for 30 years. We've been driven by 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".
Volition's statement continues, "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."
Exact details on the number of layoffs at Volition haven't yet been revealed, but it's not looking too good with the statement mentioning the studio providing "job assistance" and helping "smooth the transition for our Volition family". It seems likely that we'll get more details soon, but it seems like most, if not all, the members of the team have been fired.
Sadly, Volition's closure doesn't come as too much of a surprise considering recent comments made by Embracer Group CEO, Lars Wingefors. , Wingefors said in an open letter two months ago that Embracer had announced a restructuring program across its studios that would "make us a leaner, stronger and a more focused, self-sufficient company", something that's referenced in Volition's statement.
Considering how massive of a series Saints Row was, it looks like we're going to see a lot more shutdowns from Embracer Group. I'm certainly not a businessman, but it probably should have stopped buying up so many developers and studios if it was only going to close them down a few years later.