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On the heels of a total and immediate shutdown for 30-year-old studio Volition, publisher Deep Silver says that series like Saints Row and Red Faction aren't dead yet.
Deep Silver issued its own statement after Volition released a farewell letter acknowledging the efforts of its developers and the love from its community. "Our thoughts go out to everyone at Volition, past and present," Deep Silver writes. "We're incredibly grateful for their unforgettable work on Saints Row and Red Faction, whose IPs will live on at PLAION."
Deep Silver importantly doesn't limit this continuation to just Saints Row and Red Faction, though those are handily Volition's best-known IP. But there's still scope for other series to see a potential revival down the line; as Volition notes in its farewell, it's also behind Descent, FreeSpace, and even "that Summoner RPG with that hilarious video" (which has actually reviewed quite well on Steam).
PLAION, you may recall, was previously known as Koch Media back when it was acquired by Embracer Group, the same holding company that also owns THQ Nordic. Volition was a subsidiary of Koch/PLAION at the time of that acquisition, but was later transferred to the broader Gearbox company that Embracer also owns. PLAION is actually above Deep Silver on the Embracer hierarchy, sort of like Take-Two to Rockstar but with an even bigger corporate mothership looming overhead.
How exactly PLAION will keep Saints Row, Red Faction, or potentially other Volition IP alive remains to be seen, but don't expect any announcements anytime soon. At the very least, this could indicate that 2022's troubled Saints Row reboot may yet receive the still-desperately-needed patches that were announced well before this whole mess.
Saints Row fans are nevertheless worried for the series' future, and critical of Embracer Group as more studios get caught up in its "restructuring" following a failed $2 billion deal.
