Volition’s first next generation project was an open world game set in post apocalyptic Rio. I say “was” because as Senior Producer Greg Donovan said at a panel at the Game Developers Conference, “Right or wrong, we know we could’ve made this game. But it would’ve taken too long. It wouldn’t have been the responsible thing to do.”
So, just what game was this? The project code-named Zeus was under development for both – Xbox One and PS4. .” The game was going to be a modern Western where the player would play as a hardened gunslinger exploring a lawless and broken city. The emphasis would have been on travelling on-foot. Volition’s other games, most notably the Saints Row series are open world titles too though the first 3 games were content to let you roam around in a variety of vehicles, the 4th game powered you up to the point that you could run faster than a car. An interesting form of on-foot travel, that.
The game’s cancellation did disappoint some members of the studio, which was expected when you invest yourself in something but Donovan explained that they’re glad of their ability to “fail fast” as they have the ability to create vision tools quickly. The studio is now working on a “top secret” project, which will build upon all what they learnt from their experience of building Zeus.