New York’s Strong Museum Acquires Volition Games Collection For Preservation
The Strong Museum recently added to its video game collection and preservation efforts with a massive stockpile of games, documents, and associated paraphernalia, from Volition. Volition closed down in September 2023 and was best known for the Saints Row series.
Situated in Rochester, New York, the Strong is an interactive museum dedicated to the study and exploration of play in all its forms. Video game fans can find collections and exhibits from the World Video Game Hall of Fame and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games. Volition’s collection represents almost 30 years of the game studio’s work.
“The collection, containing thousands of game builds, some source material, documentation, awards and props, includes material for Descent, recognized as the first fully 3D first-person shooter, the Red Faction series, and the Saints Row series,” said Andrew Borman, Director of Digital Preservation at the Strong, in a video posted to LinkedIn.
“We could explore games that were unreleased and never made it to market, such as various Saints Row spin-offs and their prototypes, many of which haven’t been seen before.”
Volition: 30 Years of History
Formed in 1996 in Illinois, Volition initially made a name for itself with Descent and its sequels. However, after being acquired by THQ (also now defunct) in 2000, Volition shifted to making RPGs (Summoner 1 and 2) and third-person action (The Punisher, the Red Faction series).
The game that arguably put the studio well and truly on the map was Saints Row, in 2006. Originally released on Xbox 360 to widespread critical praise, it was ported to other platforms and spawned multiple sequels. However, the series was rebooted in 2022 to abysmal reviews, making for an ignoble end to the once-popular studio.
Volition had a reputation for being very open with fans when the studio existed, so the Strong collection follows on from this ethos. An opening date for viewing the collection hasn’t been set yet, but it shouldn’t be too long before it’s viewable by the public.
The Strong National Museum of Play
The Strong first opened its doors in 1969 but as a private museum. It opened to the general public in 1982 and, aside from the video game side, now also includes the National Toy Hall of Fame, the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, the Woodbury School, and the American Journal of Play.
It’s easy to take video game availability for granted, especially given there are now so many avenues to get hold of titles. However, it’s common for game services to periodically remove titles or only offer them as a license to play a game, not actual ownership. Plus, games that exist on hardware (such as arcade cabinets) are subject to degradation.
The Strong has been running video game preservation efforts since 2006 and it now contains over 60,000 games and associated items. As the official Strong website puts it: “As more and more of our broader culture exists in digital form, the expertise that we gain here will have broad application to libraries, archives, museums, universities, and other institutions worldwide seeking to figure out how to preserve our modern digital culture.”
