Due to the poor reception of the "Saints Row" reboot, Embracer Group has announced that it is pulling Volition from Plaion (formerly Koch Media) and transferring it to Gearbox instead.

As part of its quarterly financial report (opens in new tab), Embracer reflected on the performance of "Saints Row" and the future of the development company. While the parent company stated that "financially, "Saints Row" is performing well in line with management's expectations," the critical reception was a different story. The reputation of 'Saints Row' has not lived up to expectations and the fan base has become partially polarized," said Lars Vingefors, CEO of Embracer. 'Our game development studio, Volition, is working hard to improve the player experience.'

As a result, Embracer is transferring Volition internally from one operating group to another. Going forward, Volition will be part of Gearbox, with all the tools in place to create Volition's future success, including an experienced management team in the U.S." This is the first intra-group transfer of a major studio between operating groups, but not necessarily the last."

The background to the transfer is a rather vague explanation, but perhaps Gearbox is a better fit for Volition's team than Plaion; as Wingefors notes, "Saints Row" was not always the best comeback, and the company's success with "Saints Row" was not always the best comeback. As Wingefors says, "Saints Row" didn't always make the best comeback. Saints Row" is always at its best when it's full-on dubstep and silly, but the reboot has long since forgotten that. Recall it, for example, the stories of joining LARPs around town, donning cardboard armor, and fighting Mad Max role-players with Styrofoam weapons.

Wing Force itself admits (open in new tab) that player reception was disappointing shortly after launch. 'Obviously, I personally expected this game to be better received. But it's nice to see so many gamers and fans happy. It's hard to say; the November "Saints Row" update (opens in new tab) promises to be a "beast" with over 200 fixes and quality-of-life updates.

The studio reshuffle wasn't the only news announced in the quarterly financial report - "Dead Island 2" has also been delayed (opens in new tab). Yes, again.