Let's talk about the Closure of Volition for a bit

When I was headhunted from Wargaming USA, the recruiter asked me to simply look at the cost of living of Champaign, Illinois versus Austin, TX. I did check on this and I looked into the politics, the culture, travel options, the walkability, etc. Champaign seemed great and so did its big brother city up north, Chicago. It was all too easy for me to hear out what the job offer was. It was for a small studio called Volition. The game they were working on? A new Saints Row game. To start, I love Illinois. I will probably, if all things line up correctly, retire here. Chicago does most of the heavy lifting, but for good reason. It's an incredible, walkable city and designed with people actually living there in mind. Maybe one day my wife and our dogs will move there, but that's a future thought.

For Volition and as part of the interview, I was shown the vertical slice for the game that eventually became known as Saints Row 2022. Without getting into specifics it was fresh, it was new, it was vibrant and colorful and still had the raunchy attitude I was expecting from the series. It was simply...stunning. There were wacky powerups. It even had some solid stinger moments, including in cutscenes. There was an idea, there was passion, and I was all too excited to accept the job offer after they showed it to me.

This was not the game that was released. There is a long story to all of this and maybe one day someone will tell that tale. It was by no means a perfect project or a perfect studio, but it was full of some the most dedicated and hardest working people in the games industry that did they damnedest every single day. I would proudly work with any of them again.

Embracer, the umbrella company, made a lot of mistakes with the studio. Deep Silver probably made even more mistakes. Lots of missteps, mis-calculations, and lots of weird twists and turns. I am afraid that we have not seen the last of the Embracer studio closures and lay-offs, but this might be the worst of it.

To everyone of the former employees at Volition: We tried team. We tried. No shame in that. To everyone insulting the former employees while they are looking for a new job: please, please, I beg of you: Go touch grass. You're not a gang-banger. You've likely never left the suburbs. Johnny Gat himself (if he was real, but he's not, because he is a video game character) would have beat your ass and made you eat your own left pinky finger for being so low. You're weak, you're soft, you reprehensible. Get over yourself and go find peace in another video game.

To all of the fans that actually show commiseration: Thanks for being there. From Descent to Saints Row 2022, the studio lived and breathed through people like you and your support.