Having long been presumed lost, in 2019 Volition were able to get their hands on the source code for Saints Row 2, and quickly set about fixing the game’s long-broken PC version. That work has been led by one man, Community Developer Mike Watson, who this week sadly passed away.
Watson had battled stage 4 cancer last year, and even documented his struggles on the company’s Facebook page. While working through it when possible, earlier this year the cancer came “back with a vengeance,” and he was forced to step down from his role leading the small team in May.
Despite this, he kept contributing to the project, deciding that he would “continue to work on this for as long as I am able”.
You are probably wondering what will happen with the Saints Row 2 patch project. While I will no longer be managing Community, I will continue to work on this for as long as I am able. Please understand 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. We have also been planning for this eventual moment, and brought on additional programming help some time ago to make sure it happens. While I am hesitant to give any kind of timeline, I can say that there have been huge strides made. I am confident that it will meet everyone’s high expectations and standards (including mine.)
Fans were so appreciative of his work that, in May, they made a 20-minute tribute video thanking him for everything he had done for the game and its community.
Our thoughts are with Mike’s family and friends.