Senior community developer at Volition, Mike Watson, has sadly passed away after a long battle with cancer. His work on breathing new life into the eccentrically bizarre Saints Row franchise through various renowned mods and fan interactions left a tremendous impact, as many now mourn the loss of the beloved icon.
Commonly acknowledged within the community as a super modder for the action-adventure franchise, Watson famously secured his status when he transformed Saints Row 2 on PC through the highly acclaimed Gentlemen of the Row mod, which he gave away to gamers for free. Not only did Watson iron out many of the title's creases and bugs, but he further implemented a whole new pack-a-punch arsenal, over 40 character customisation options, and a lot more.
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In doing so, Watson went from community manager at Volition to leading development on the anticipated official PC patch for Saints Row 2. For the uninitiated, the original game-breaking port created by CD Projekt RED was dragged through the mud by fans because of its many problems. Therefore, after finding the long assumed to be lost source code for the second installment, Watson planned to rectify the port issues as a significant tribute to the Saints Row community.
In May, Watson released an impassioned post to confirm that his illness has led to him stepping down from his position as Volition's community manager. However, he did assert that progress on the official Saints Row 2 patch will continue, writing that "it is 100% my choice to spend my last days contributing to it. Both Volition and Deep Silver have been incredibly supportive and have always given me the opportunity to leave the project with a solemn vow to make sure it gets finished without me."
Progress on the patch remained steady and determined until Watson tragically lost the battle to stage four cancer on August 25. The news of his passing was confirmed by Volition lead game designer Ryan McCabe, who released a tribute to Mike Watson. "Mike was one of the best of us, and the world is no doubt darker without him in it," McCabe wrote. "His passion was palpable and infectious for everything he loved."
Incidentally, Watson affirmed not so long ago that the upcoming Saints Row reboot is "absolutely going to blow the roof off," and that the work put in by Volition developers had made him "beyond proud." Speaking of which, the latest Saints Row was announced at Gamescom 2021 with an expected release date of February 25, 2022.
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Source: Kotaku
