A group of veteran developers who used to work at Saints Row studio Volition teamed up to form a new studio, named Shapeshifter Games.
The studio, revealed on Linkedin, is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, and is intended to be a co-development studio.
This means that the plan is to partner with other developers and publishers to support them in the creation of their AAA games.
Studio head Matt Madigan mentions that the goal is "to grow and assist developers and publishers by providing a sustainable workforce model."
More relevant names from Volition are principal producer Rob Loftus, who has taken on the role of studio director - production at Shapeshifter, while franchise creative director Brian Traficante takes on the equivalent role on the creative side.
Traficante himself commented on his own LinkedIn page mentioning that "Working with talented, familiar faces fills him with joy." Loftus mentions that he's "Fortunate to reconnect with colleagues and turn the page on a new adventure," adding that he's hopeful for the formation of similar groups and brighter days ahead.
Among the listed employees on LinkedIn, we see six more veterans from the former team at Volition plus one from Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios, which was also recently hit by layoffs. Shapeshifter is also currently hiring a Lead Software Engineer.
According to the listing, the studio specializes in open-world games, Unreal Engine 5, console development, and co-development. Interestingly, according to the profile of AJ Nelson, it appears that Shapeshifter is already working as a co-developer on a project for Xbox Game Studios.
Volition is mainly known as the studio behind the Saints Row franchise. Following the release of the recent reboot, the studio fell victim of Embracer Group's infamous restructuring and was closed in the summer of 2023 amid one of the worst periods for gaming industry employment in recent memory.
Embracer's axe has fallen on many of its studios with extensive layoffs and full closures, including Cryptic Studios, New World Interactive, Free Radical, 3D Realms/Slipgate Ironworks, Lost Boys Interactive, and Eidos Montreal, about which we have learned just earlier today.
