Former Volition devs form Shapeshifter Games, work with Xbox Game Studios

Some of the developers formerly working at Volition, which was closed by Embracer Group in 2023, have formed a new support studio called Shapeshifter Games, as spotted by Techraptor. Based in Champaign, Illinois, the company will focus on assisting other developers with their work on big titles – a job listing specifically mentions open-world games, Unreal Engine 5, and console development as areas of expertise the studio wants to provide. According to one employee’s LinkedIn profile, the newly formed company has already landed a gig with Xbox Game Studios, assisting on an unspecified project. Volition’s last released game was the reboot of Saints Row, which turned out to be a commercial miss and likely sent the studio to the top of Embracer Group’s long list of cost-cutting victims – a list that just got even longer with layoffs at Eidos Montreal. Key personnel from Volition at Shapeshifter Games includes Matt Madigan, who has become the studio head, Rob Loftus, Shapeshifter’s studio director, and Brian Tra