Forgotten Batman and Saints Row: The Strong Museum received a unique Volition collection with 30 years of studio history
The Strong National Museum of Play in New York has added unique materials from Volition, the studio behind the cult series Saints Row, Red Faction, and Descent, to its collection. Among the thousands of game collections, documents, and artefacts, there are even prototypes of cancelled projects, including a never-released Batman game that has recently been launched in a working form.
Here's What We Know
Volition was founded in 1993 and became famous for the open world and humour of Saints Row. However, in 2023, the studio ceased to exist as a result of the restructuring of the parent company Embracer Group.
The collection, donated to the museum by former Volition employees, contains thousands of game collections, source codes, design documentation, awards, and props. Among the most interesting items is a Saints Row prototype called Bling Bling, as well as a demo version of the Batman game created in the early 2000s.
The Batman demo, which Andrew Borman, the museum's director of digital archiving, managed to run, demonstrates Volition's early attempt to make a stealth game with Batman as the protagonist. The game, created around 2003, had a dark Gotham atmosphere with detailed rooftops and the hero's tools, from binoculars to a hook and bomb.
In addition, the collection contains materials that reveal the development process of Saints Row, including early levels and ideas that did not make it to the final version. This provides a unique opportunity to look behind the scenes of one of the most influential open-world series.
The museum is currently cataloguing and transferring data from outdated media to make the archive available to researchers and visitors in the near future. This large-scale project of preserving the history of games is an important part of The Strong's work, which has already collected more than 60 thousand games and artefacts dedicated to gaming culture.
Source: DYKG
