Saints Row developer Volition has been shut down

After 30 years, Volition is closing its doors. 

On LinkedIn, the Champaign, IL-based studio confirmed it’s being shut down as part of the “restructuring program” from its parent company Embracer. To “maintain its position as a leader in the video game industry,” Embracer “made the difficult decision to close Volition effective immediately.” 

The statement was further corroborated by now ex-staffers at the studio confirming they were affected by the closure.

Volition’s closure

Founded in June 1993 by Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog, Volition was originally known as Parallax Software. Its debut title was 1995’s Descent, which was followed by a sequel the following year. Starting with 1998’s Descent: Freespace—The Great War, the studio would go by its current name. 

Volition’s “big break” game came in the form of 2001’s Red Faction. That game spawned multiple sequels (ending with 2011’s Red Faction: Armageddon) and a movie spinoff. Its other big franchise, Saints Row, began in 2006 and enjoyed the longer tenure: with several sequels, a soft reboot (2017’s Agents of Mayhem), and 2022’s full-on reboot, simply titled Saints Row. 

Other titles developed by the studio include 2002’s Summoner 2 and The Punisher from 2004. 

During the 2010s, Volition was a key developer from THQ that survived the transition over to Deep Silver. That company later rebranded to Plaion (formerly Koch Media) and itself had a “small restructure” as of 2022. 

Saints Row 2022, the final game from Volition, will be available on PlayStation Plus’ Extra tier starting September 6.