Saints Row studio manager says WB, EA, Take-Two, and Ubisoft all showed interest in company; no layoffs after sale, though name may change.

Six different companies entertained the possibility of buying Saints Row studio Volition Inc. before it was eventually sold to Deep Silver parent company Koch Media last week, general manager Dan Cermak told The News Gazette.

Warner Bros., Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Koch Media, and an unnamed group from Chicago all completed site visits in the weeks preceding the sale, he said.

However, only two companies--Koch Media and Ubisoft--submitted bids for Volition, with Koch Media's $22.3 million offer well ahead of the French publisher's $5.4 million bid.

Koch Media had 390 employees prior to the purchase and will take on all 185 Volition staffers. There will not be any layoffs and compensation packages are consistent, Cermak said.

What may change, though, is Volition's name. "Deep Silver Volition" is reportedly among the names being considered, Cermak said. Cermak also confirmed that Koch Media did not acquire the Red Faction franchise, the fate of which lies in limbo.

Cermak said the sale to Koch Media is a "very positive situation for us." He noted that because Koch Media is a private company, it does not face many of the pressures THQ did as a publicly traded entity, like meeting quarterly financial benchmarks.

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