Volition Founder Mike Kulas has Returned to the Company

In 2011, just as Saints Row the Third was approaching the end of its development, Volition founder Mike Kulas left the company. After several years away, a hankering to return to the industry, and a finished project elsewhere, Kulas has come back. Kulas will be serving as Volition’s general manager, helping development director Jim Boone run the studio. This move seems to be a positive one for Volition, as Kulas coming back is expected to bring a morale boost to the office.

In speaking with industry-focused website Games Industry, Kulas stated that when he left in 2011 it was to spend time with his family, essentially a form of retirement. That said, after a few years his kids got older, and he felt the need to get back to the games industry. Before coming back to Volition he went to Revival Productions for a project called Overlord, which was a spiritual successor to Descent (a game made by Parallax, the first name Volition went by). As that title’s development came to a close, Kulas ended up with the opportunity to go back to Volition and took it.

Much of Game Industry’s article on the move points to the rough time Volition has had since Agents of Mayhem, which neither reviewed well nor was it well-received by the gaming community. Boone, who had also previously left the company returned after Agents of Mayhem, and now that Kulas is back as well the narrative seems to be a return to where Volition was before in terms of morale and culture.

[Source: Games Industry]