Mere weeks after an expansion for the fourth instalment in the franchise — titled Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell — was revealed, creative director Steve Jaros has opted to leave Volition and explore new business ventures over at Valve. Jaros obviously played a crucial role in shaping the style and tone of the Saints Row series into the irreverent and idiosyncratic ball of chaotic fun that we know it as today, so it’ll be interesting which direction the franchise takes going forward.
It is also worth noting that Jaros had worked for Volition for ten years before making the decision to leave. He also left the following message on Twitter, which you can read below:
The past 10 years at Volition have been life changing. I’ve gotten to work with amazing people and made friends that will last a life time..
— Steve Jaros (@SteveJaros) September 14, 2014
For those wondering if Jaros will be a good fit for Valve, the answer has got to be undoubtedly yes. Sure, Volition’s games are from a third-person perspective, while Valve often crafts experiences in first-person, but there is some common ground to be found with cooperative play. Whether it is Saints Row, Portal, or Left 4 Dead, there is a strong chance that you are looking to enhance the fun of one of these games with a friend. With that line of thinking, it’s entirely possible that Jaros will be offering up his creative expertise to expand upon the multiplayer components of Valve’s franchises, whether it be with weapon designs, a little extra focus on the narrative, or something else.
Let’s also not rule out the possibility of him being brought on to assist with work on the long-desired Half-Life 3, considering that again, Jaros understands the fundamentals of shooting in video games and will no doubt make a valuable asset to the project. This is all assuming that Valve ever learns how to count to three, of course.
As for Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell, that game is moving along as expected and will be available for purchase on last generation and next generation consoles next January. You can read more about the expansion here.