The Fumbled Game Reboot That Buried an Iconic Developer

Is there no room left for middling adventures?

Volition was an amazing video game development team, with a legacy stretching back to some super cool PC releases in the 90’s. They worked on early amazing pioneers of the format like Descent and Freespace 2, two titles once spoken of in hushed and respectful tones in the corners of old game shops.

As the console audience grew, Volition reinvented themselves with new breakout action hits in Red Faction and Saints Row — one of the first games to truly challenge and compete with Grand Theft Auto. In 2022, Saints Row got a big reboot backed by a pile of venture cap dollars, and it missed sales expectations so badly that the studio was almost immediately shut down.

In an ironic blend of cruel fate and creativity, the reboot opens with your character being buried alive by their enemies.

Yes, this game really opens with your customized main character being buried. The studio met the same fate months later. PS5 screenshot captured by the author.

On paper Saints Row 2022 should have been a solid game. It brought the wacky scope and scale of the series back down into the more manageable format of “drive around a city and do missions.” It kept the same sense of humor found throughout the series, and I thought it had some really good jokes. GTA is known for its satirical, crass humor, but the Saints titles went for classic 80’s movie comedy laughs — and sometimes…