Well, there goes another big industry name. Embracer Group, who currently own a stupidly vast portfolio of developers and publisher has shut down Volition.
The news was shared by Volition on their LinkedIn that reads:
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.
A shame to see such a name shut. That said, their latest release with the Saints Row reboot didn't exactly gain recognition. It also caused Volition to move under Gearbox. Embracer themselves said that Saints Row had "left the fanbase partially polarized" although the game had "performed in line with management expectations in the quarter".
This won't be the last getting shut, as Embracer previously announced a comprehensive restructuring program.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Linux_Rocks Aug 31, 2023
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Mohandevir Aug 31, 2023
They skipped the second "E". 
Last edited by Mohandevir on 31 August 2023 at 6:41 pm UTC
Last edited by Mohandevir on 31 August 2023 at 6:41 pm UTC
6 Likes, Who?
volition, n.: the power to make your own decisions
name doesn't check out
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They skipped the second "E".That joke just refuses to get old.
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RIP, Embracer embraced so much that it chokedActually I think this death was out of their own volition.
They alienated fans and then they were angry that nobody liked the game.
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Arehandoro Aug 31, 2023
<insert here anti capitalist stance>
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Embracer themselves said that Saints Row had "left the fanbase partially polarized"I don't think so.
The game is pretty much universally reviled - an deservedly so.
Then again, even 95% is probably still "partially"...
although the game had "performed in line with management expectations in the quarter".That is either a bold lie or "management" knew the game would sell like sliced bread that is moldy.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 31 August 2023 at 8:40 pm UTC
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Embracer themselves said that Saints Row had "left the fanbase partially polarized"I don't think so.
The game is pretty much universally reviled - an deservedly so.
Then again, even 95% is probably still "partially"...
Exactly what I was thinking.
1% was polarised. The rest hated it. :DTo be fair, you can have all kinds of thoughts on the closing down of a studio. But Volition hasn't really produced anything noteworthy for a decade. And after SR reboot, what reason was there to keep sticking with it? At some point keeping it open becomes charity.
Kind if interesting that they were shoved under Gearbox though. They managed produce a piece of the most awful game writing themselves with BL3. Paired nicely with the SR reboot. At least the gameplay of BL3 saved it somewhat.
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When somebody else owns your studio you got to produce what they demand even if you vehemently disagree with the decisions and i feel that this is what happened with that saint's row reboot, they toned down or removed everything that made the original games fun and took it in a different direction. i have a feeling, but dont actually know,the actual devs did not agree with this and when they did what was required and the game bombed their reward for following orders is a complete shut down and layoffs.
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Dana Souly Aug 31, 2023
I just hate games with criminal intent.
I've enjoyed SR3+4 and the musical standalone game very much because the excuse being a movie (or musical in hell) was something I could live with.
I didn't see any excuse in SR reboot in trailers.
I've enjoyed SR3+4 and the musical standalone game very much because the excuse being a movie (or musical in hell) was something I could live with.
I didn't see any excuse in SR reboot in trailers.
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To be fair, you can have all kinds of thoughts on the closing down of a studio. But Volition hasn't really produced anything noteworthy for a decade. And after SR reboot, what reason was there to keep sticking with it? At some point keeping it open becomes charity.
Hopefully they sacked the management and redirected talented staff to other companies, at least those who wanted to stay.
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That said, their latest release with the Saints Row reboot didn't exactly gain recognition.
Well, what a surprise.
Still a shame though.
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In memory of the old Volition, that gave us Freespace 1 and 2, still some of the finest first person space dogfight games.
--RIP Volition
I'm starting a new playthrough with FsOpen today.
--RIP Volition
I'm starting a new playthrough with FsOpen today.
1 Likes, Who?
Part of the problem here is that what we're seeing is corporatism. Capitalism is supposed to be regulated such that a free market always exists. There are antitrust laws that are supposed to be enforced.
Somewhere along the line, politicians started taking "campaign contributions" from "special interest groups" rather than doing their job, and now it's almost a rarity to see antitrust action taken or really anything done other than cronyism. We already live in the post-capitalist world, and that's the reason we see so much corruption. We are letting corporations and special interests operate above the law and we are not holding politicians to account.
Somewhere along the line, politicians started taking "campaign contributions" from "special interest groups" rather than doing their job, and now it's almost a rarity to see antitrust action taken or really anything done other than cronyism. We already live in the post-capitalist world, and that's the reason we see so much corruption. We are letting corporations and special interests operate above the law and we are not holding politicians to account.
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"performed in line with management expectations in the quarter" Mean: "we're not taking our fanbase opinion seriously and we're heading whatever the f**k management wants".
That's a true recipe for disaster on any project, trying to please management instead of it's users.
That's a true recipe for disaster on any project, trying to please management instead of it's users.
3 Likes, Who?
Part of the problem here is that what we're seeing is corporatism. Capitalism is supposed to be regulated such that a free market always exists. There are antitrust laws that are supposed to be enforced.This is true but at the same time it is a misunderstanding. You're imagining some "normal" capitalist situation that this is a departure from. In reality, the stuff you're talking about is normal. It was the strong regulatory government that was the aberration.
Somewhere along the line, politicians started taking "campaign contributions" from "special interest groups" rather than doing their job, and now it's almost a rarity to see antitrust action taken or really anything done other than cronyism. We already live in the post-capitalist world, and that's the reason we see so much corruption. We are letting corporations and special interests operate above the law and we are not holding politicians to account.
Experiments with strong restrictions on capital for the broader economic and public good happened because of the Great Depression and massive popular movements from below, because of the massive upheaval of WW II, and because of the Cold War presenting the practical threat of a different model (It turned out not to be that great a model, but that wasn't always clear, and it meant our elites had to offer a deal that was clearly better than that other one seemed like it might be). Once those shocks went away, we started gradually returning to the pre-Depression status quo, characterized by very high inequality and lots of poverty with crap wages at the bottom.
Regulated, social democratic capitalism with strong unions is a system that really works quite well. Unfortunately, it is unstable and very difficult to maintain for long because it leaves capitalists ultimately holding the big levers of power, and with strong motivation to break it. So they do.
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"performed in line with management expectations in the quarter" Mean: "we're not taking our fanbase opinion seriously and we're heading whatever the f**k management wants".Normally I'd agree with you, but considering they're canning them I think in this case it just means "We're sacking these guys, no need to be rude as well".
That's a true recipe for disaster on any project, trying to please management instead of it's users.
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benstor214 Sep 2, 2023
They skipped the second "E".I don't understand the joke. :(
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