It’s rough times for Volition these days. The studio has been dealing with the fallout of the high profile flop that was Agents of Mayhem, its single player spin off on its long running Saints Row property, leading to severe layoffs. However, it seems like there may yet be hope for the troubled studio.
Long time studio veteran Jim Boone, who left the studio last year to work with Riot Games (the folks who bring us League of Legends), and who had worked at the studio for 22 years before leaving, is returning to it again.
“Man, did I miss the guys,” Boone told GamesIndustry. “I go pretty far back with these guys, even on the publishing side. As you can imagine, the kind of relationships that you form with everyone are pretty strong. I missed them. I loved what I was doing when I left. I kept thinking about what the guys were doing, slaving away on Agents of Mayhem… and it felt kind of weird that I wasn’t part of that. So being able to come back, and work with everyone on the next step was pretty exciting for me. It felt like something I couldn’t turn down.”
Boone went on to confirm that the studio acknowledges Agents of Mayhem‘s underperformance (though, I mean, it’s not like they have much of a choice there). It will be interesting to see how Volition plans to recover from this- they are a talented studio that makes fun games, and it would be a shame to see them go. Thankfully, they have Boone in their corner, which is hopefully going to be a boost to their chances of survival.
Agents of Mayhem is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.