There goes my dream of an Agents of Mayhem sequel.
Embracer group is terrible. It came with big promises of reviving dormant franchises but it’s just closing studios with not a single game announcement to show for it.
A shame, but the writing has been on the wall for a long time. Volition was never quite the same after the THQ bankruptcy, and that was still several years before Embracer took over.
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“The Volition team has proudly created world-class entertainment for fans around the globe for 30 years,” the statement reads, in part.
After that deal fell apart, Embracer warned that it would be forced to undergo a major restructuring program that would impact an unforeseen number of the company’s then-17,000 employees through March 2024.
Started in 1993 under the name Parallax Software, the studio that would later become Volition first made a name for itself with Descent, a 3D space shooter that innovated by allowing free movement in all directions.
The company was acquired by THQ in 2000, which oversaw the publishing of the destruction-based Red Faction FPS franchise and the start of gonzo crime simulator Saints Row.
When THQ dissolved in 2013, Volition was purchased by Koch Media’s Deep Silver publishing arm, which was itself acquired by a quickly growing Embracer in 2018.
The Saints Row and Red Faction franchises will remain as part of Embracer’s Plaion division, according to a statement provided to PC Gamer.
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Wtf, this is the 3rd game studio shutting down this month.
Yep, it’s been a trend all year. My studio got canned back at the end of January. Publisher called us into a studio-wide meeting scheduled during lunch with 1 hour of notice, only to say “The game you spent 6 years on is canceled and all 150 of you are fired. The media will know in 30 minutes, don’t say anything until then if you want to keep a severance package.” (I have since landed on my feet elsewhere.)
These studios are owned by big publishers and generally work for years at a loss. With the costs to borrow increasing, we’re seeing cuts on long-term investments that might not make their money back (like movies and games).
Volition was owned by Embracer, which is now struggling with funding. So anything that isn’t a sure bet is effectively canned - and in turn you see these studios shut down left and right, plus big layoffs from studios that are still open.
There’s your problem. Hiring an entire team for 6+ years and then cancelling the project. That’s hundreds of thousands, if not millions, down the drain.
The current AA / AAA gamedev industry isn’t sustainable
That’s all game development.
Baldur’s Gate took 6 years to make. Starfield has been in development since 2015 - that’s 8 years. As gamers demand more, games have grown in scope. The ones that stayed behind have gotten punished.
If a AAA game doesn’t have at least 8 hours of story and realistic graphics in the modern era, it gets panned by reviewers. People’s expectations have been raised - and are continuing to be raised - and in turn, that inflates how long it takes to make a game. People will say “Why should I spend $60 on this game when I can spend $60 on this game that gives me more stuff?” (See: Immortals of Aveum, which itself has been in development for 4-5 years.)
The games that don’t take that long are the stale yearly franchises - the FIFAs and CODs of the world. Even COD alternates between studios, with each installment taking 1-3 years. Some franchises (like Pokemon) have multiple teams within a studio that operate independently of one another; Arceus was made by the Let’s Go team, while Scarlet/Violet was made by the Sword/Shield team.
If studios stop betting on long-term projects, you’re going to wind up with stale yearly iterations - or half-baked games rushed out the door to meet a deadline. If it’s true that you say AAA (and even AA!) dev isn’t sustainable, then that’s effectively calling for stale franchises pushing out cheap content for quick cash grabs (see also: Hollywood movies over the last decade).
It’s also not just games this is happening to. Disney recently canned a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea show that was ready to go. There’s the Scooby-Doo stuff that Max recently pulled before release as well. That stuff isn’t my industry; I don’t know how long it takes to make those things… but I know it costs about as much to make as a AAA game does.
There’s probably a reckoning to be had for both industries, but I don’t think the correction should be that drastic - and I think it will be bad for people who consume that content.
They made a lot of bad moves after a while but the saints row series and their other games were pretty baller. Sad. Hope the team all find good stable positions after.
To what extent were the og Saint’s Row games and the remake made by the same people? I know Volition’s name was on both games, but I wonder if a lot of the experienced leaders left Volition after Saints Row 4? Seems like that’s always the explanation whenever a studio’s games take a sudden dip in quality.
