Volition (company)

Deep Silver Volition, LLC
Formerly called
 Volition, Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry Computer and video games
Predecessor Parallax Software
Founded November 1996 (1996-11)
Founders Mike Kulas
Matt Toschlog
Headquarters Champaign, Illinois, United States
Key people
 Dan Cermak
Products Red Faction (2001—11)
Saints Row (2006—present)
Number of employees
 300 (2014)[1]
Parent Deep Silver
Website www.dsvolition.com

Deep Silver Volition, LLC (formerly Volition, Inc., commonly referred to as Volition) is an American video game developer located in Champaign, Illinois. The company was created when Parallax Software was split into two companies, Volition and Outrage Entertainment, led by Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog in November 1996.[2]

History

When Interplay Entertainment was the publisher, Volition Inc developed the FreeSpace series of space simulation video games. When Interplay tumbled towards bankruptcy, Volition Inc was acquired by THQ in September 2000.[3] Since then, Volition Inc has developed several acclaimed titles including the Red Faction series, the Summoner series, The Punisher, and the Saints Row series.

Insane, a game developed in collaboration with Guillermo del Toro was announced at 2010 Spike Video Game Awards but Volition's version of the game was cancelled in 2012. del Toro has since announced that Insane is still currently in development from an as of yet undisclosed developer.

When THQ filed for bankruptcy, a number of companies showed interest in the assets of THQ.[4] General manager of Volition Inc., Dan Cermak said that Warner Bros., Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Deep Silver, and an unnamed group from Chicago undertook site visits in the weeks preceding the sale.[5] Eventually, Volition was acquired by Koch Media for 22.3 million USD.[6] The only other bid was 5.4 million USD by Ubisoft.[5]

Volition was the second most expensive THQ asset sold during the auction (after Relic Entertainment). The price was understood to be largely due to the success of games such as Saints Row: The Third, which by early 2012 had sold around 4 million copies. THQ also claimed that the game's downloadable content packages were performing much better than anticipated.[7]

As part of THQ's bankruptcy in January 2013, Volition Inc and the Saints Row franchise were acquired by Koch Media, with future titles being published under its Deep Silver brand.[8] Volition's Red Faction and Summoner franchises were not acquired with the company by Deep Silver, instead being acquired by video game publisher and developer Nordic Games.

Games developed

Year Title Platform(s)
GC OS X Win Linux NGE PS2 PS3 PS4 Xbox X360 XONE
1998 FreeSpace: The Great War No No Yes No No No No No No No No
1999 FreeSpace 2 No No Yes No No No No No No No No
2000 Summoner No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No No
2001 Red Faction No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No
2002 Summoner 2 Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No
2002 Red Faction II Yes No Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No
2005 The Punisher No No Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No
2006 Saints Row No No No No No No No No No Yes No
2008 Saints Row 2 No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No
2009 Red Faction: Guerrilla No No Yes No No No Yes No No Yes No
2011 Red Faction: Armageddon No No Yes No No No Yes No No Yes No
2011 Saints Row: The Third No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No
2013 Saints Row IV No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
2015 Saints Row: Gat out of Hell No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
2017 Agents of Mayhem No No Yes No No No No Yes No No Yes

Cancelled games

References

  1. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew (July 15, 2014). "Volition plans to add 100 people to its team". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ Hanson, Ben (March 30, 2011). "The Secret History of Volition". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ "THQ Acquires Volition in Stock Transaction". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 2000.
  4. ↑ "The Break Up - Bankrupt THQ's Assets Sold At Auction". Forbes. April 18, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Volition had six interested buyers - Report". GameSpot. January 30, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Ray, Alexa (January 23, 2013). "Koch Media offers $22.3M for Volition and $5.8M for 4A Games' Metro franchise in THQ auction". Polygon. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  7. ↑ "THQ's fourth-quarter results got a boost from Saints Row". Destructoid. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  8. ↑ "THQ Dissolved, Saints Row, Company of Heroes, Darksiders Devs Acquired". IGN. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
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