Jump to content
LCVG

Embracer closes Volition Games…


Recommended Posts

This was posted on Twitter:

 

 

Brutal.:( 

 

They were put under Gearbox a few years ago and the recent Saints Row didn’t hit, but man they made some great games over the years. The early Saints Row games, Red Faction, etc. Sucks if true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Romier S changed the title to Embracer closes Volition Games…

That really sucks-Saints Row had something going for a while there, but I never got around to playing the reboot.  Sounded like it wasn't great.  I'm almost surprised that it wasn't a sale instead of a closure, but there's probably business reasons for that?  Hopefully something good comes out of the ashes of this-maybe a new independent studio or two?  Hopefully embracer is at least taking care of the people who are hit by this...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Yep it was, and they are. They mostly have video games, but they also acquired Asmodee which is the biggest board game publisher, then totally gutted one of the most popular board game divisions Fantasy Flight Games , which now barely puts out anything. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/31/2023 at 11:55 AM, ChrisBardon said:

I'm almost surprised that it wasn't a sale instead of a closure, but there's probably business reasons for that?  


If a studio is struggling, it typically doesn't make business sense for another company to purchase it lock stock + barrel. You're buying offices with overhead + liabilities, you're buying a full team with all the overhead and underperformers, and likely not getting IP. If the studio's mid-development, you're not getting any income from it for a while. 

It's easier to poach key staff + build a new studio from scratch. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I very much get the impression that it’s like a lot of the cutbacks across the economy, and is a microcosm of what happened in 2008. Borrowing was cheap, leverage rules were lax, and some built whole empires on debt. Money is now expensive, and it’s collapsed as they can no longer service it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right.  I think there was also an element of seeing some promise on a small scale -- gobble up AA developers with recognizable IPs and a sizeable back catalog, keep production/marketing costs for their new games modest, make their back catalogs available and profit on it all the while -- kind of like the direct-to-video filmmakers in the '80s and '90s.   Y'know, don't worry about being #1, make stuff with a built-in audience, and manage your costs so you know you'll wind up in the black pretty much no matter what.

 

But they wildly overexpanded when money was cheap, their attempts at diversification (and expanding their internal abilities to exploit IPs in other media) were eye-wateringly expensive, and it felt more like they were indiscriminately collecting studios like baseball cards rather than applying any real thought or strategy.  And when they couldn't keep things going by continuing to borrow...yeah.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...