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The Saints Row franchise has long been a competitor to the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series. However, in a recent event, the developer of the game completely shut down its operations. Deep Silver Volition LLC functioned since 1996 but has now shut down its operations and deported its employees to other organizations on September 1, 2023.
The developer shared a heart-warming farewell note on X (formerly Twitter), which seemed to upset Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto fans. The cause of the closure is rumored to be the mediocre performance of its recent title, Saints Row Reboot (2022).
Volition Studios shuts down operations, ending its long-standing competition with the GTA franchise
The gaming studio shared two official notes announcing its closure. According to one of its reports, Embracer Group AB, the parent company of Deep Silver Volition, decided to shut down the studio as part of a restructuring program within the organization.
Saints Row is one of the major projects developed and released by Deep Silver Volition and many gamers have compared it to the GTA franchise. The first self-titled Saints Row game was released in 2006 for the Xbox 360 and received an overwhelming response from the playerbase.
It should be noted that Rockstar Games had released 11 GTA titles by 2006, but Saints Row still managed to pique players' interest, especially among those who preferred open-world crime games.
Deep Silver Volition released a total of six Saints Row titles until 2022. In its second official report, the studio thanked all its loyalists who supported the games and the developer. Many Grand Theft Auto players and fans were also seen expressing their gratitude towards the studio for its 30-year-long service.
Volition released the latest edition of Saints Row on Steam on August 24, 2023, and announced its closure only a week later. According to many players and fans, the game cost nearly $100 million to develop but still hasn’t generated enough profits to date, leading to its shutdown.
GTA players are now skeptical about how the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 will perform financially since it also reportedly has a huge budget.
