Let The Games Begin! An Interview with Dan Cermak

Volition makes videogames. Making videogames is often thought of as a dream job but the reality is a bit different. Games can take more than 2 years to create with thousands of hours of programming, art and design effort that often culminates in a roll of the dice…. The hope is the audience will choose your game in the midst of hundreds of high quality products that are released each year. Very few games are a hit and normally only the top 10 games in a year will sell enough to be profitable. Volition has been fortunate enough to create one of those franchises with Saints Row.

Volition was founded by Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog in 1993 as Parallax Software. In 2004 Volition moved to its current location at One Main Plaza and began creating games for the next generation of consoles (the XBox 360 and PS3). In 2006 Volition shipped Saints Row which has become a highly regarded game garnering millions of sales from the original and two sequels.

In May of 2011 Mike Kulas retired and Dan Cermak moved into the GM role. Dan joined Volition in 2003 as the VP of Product Development and has over 26 years of experience as a producer, manager, and developer of interactive entertainment. In his role at Volition, Cermak works with a very experienced staff of 200+ people to create games for the consoles and the PC. Volition’s current projects include InSane (in conjunction with Director Guillermo Del Toro) and other to be announced projects.

Dan Cermak joined THQ in 2003 as the Vice President of Product Development for Volition, responsible for production and management of next-generation titles. In May of 2011 the founder of Volition, Mike Kulas, retired and Cermak moved into the GM role.

Dan has over 26 years of experience as a producer, manager, and developer of interactive entertainment. Before joining THQ, Cermak was an Executive Producer for Westwood Studios and also held key positions at Strategic Simulations Inc, including Senior Vice President of R&D and has been responsible for various genres including sports, strategy and war games.

In his role at Volition, Cermak works with a very experienced staff of 200+ people to create games for the XBox 360, PS3 and PC. Volition’s current projects include InSane (in conjunction with Director Guillermo Del Toro) and Saints Row (now in its third iteration). 



To watch the entire interview with Dan Cermak CLICK HERE