The current state of the games industry is an intrusive one, especially in the blockbuster AAA space. While well-established IP has long been the key to success for several developers and publishers, the sheer scale and cost of game development have seen multiple established franchises fall by the wayside. Ubisoft alone has been putting down plenty of plans for established IP returns, with the likes of Watch Dogs and Prince of Persia suffering setbacks and cancellations.
Embarker seems to have quietly done the same, with one of their biggest game franchises – set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year – seemingly put out to pasture. According to a former developer from the series, the company has been unresponsive to potential reboots and seems not even to be working on any new ideas for the series. If true, it would be a real shame, as the last entry in the series failed to recapture the unique spirit that elevated the series in the first place.
Saints Row Might Be Dead, According To One Of The Original Developers
Saints Row seems like it won’t be getting any more games, giving the cult classics action series an inglorious end. Launching in 2006, the crime-heavy action game focused on the Saints as they wrestled with other local gangs for dominance over the city of Stilwater. Initially decried as an entertaining clone of the Grand Theft Auto series by critics, the game gradually embraced a wild, bombastic, and self-aware tone. By the fourth game, the player’s gang leader had graduated to President of the United States and was leading the charge against an alien invasion. The series attempted a return to its more grounded origins with a 2022 reboot, but the typical gangland sandbox elements of the experience left critics largely unimpressed – and more importantly, failed to catch the attention of players. When the game underperformed, development on new titles was halted. A year later, the franchise’s developer, Volition, was shuttered by parent company Embracer. While fans were waiting for the series to rise again (and hopefully regain some of that chaotic energy), it seems like Saints Row 1 design director Chris Stockman has given up on that hope.
Stockman revealed to fans on his Discord that he had pitched the company on a revamped reboot for the series, but that he hadn’t gotten any formal response, convincing him that Embracer has no real plan or even interest in reviving the series. “Honestly, I think the franchise is dead, unfortunately. I get the sense that Embracer has zero ability to do anything with it… I wish things were different. I tried my best to offer a path forward, but they’ve ghosted me.” It’s not a great look for Saints Row overall, implying that the studio didn’t even have alternate plans in place to suggest the game was moving forward in a different direction. With Embracer working on other games – including Killing Floor 3, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Darksiders 4, and the Embracer-owned Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider games – it’s not a huge surprise to see them back away from Saints Row. However, it would be a real shame to see the series go away forever.
How Saints Row Became Something Special
Saints Row was a goofball anomaly in the open-world action/adventure genre, a game series that wore its various inspirations on its sleeve and took the genre into some truly wild directions – all for the better. The initial game was a technically well-made but overall uninspiring addition to a crowded genre. Saints Row 2 enhanced the experience and helped cement the franchise’s technical design, but 2011’s Saints Row: The Third changed things up by escalating everything to a hilarious degree, all on purpose. The action was more over the top, the narrative more ridiculous, and a self-referential sense of humor came to define the games. This was the trick that helped the game blow up with players and critics, who largely embraced this new direction as a silly expansion of the tropes that typically defined the genre. Two years later, Saints Row IV took it even further – and that sheer absurdity propelled it to even greater success, with the game selling over a million copies in a week.
The weirdness became part of the point, with the developers delivering kn wacky concepts to the thrills of the player base. After some solid DLC releases, though, the game failed to carry on the momentum and faltered, eventually leaving room open for 2022’s back-to-basics reboot and subsequent apparent sundowning by Embracer. If this is really the end for Saints Row, it would be a genuine disappointment for fans who wanted to see how developers could take the series further with modern tech. The series grew into the ultimate extension of the sandbox theory of game design, where players could live out the ultimate power fantasy by becoming the superpowered, alien-fighting gang lord President of the United States. It was strange, silly, and an absolute blast – so hearing that the series might be fully dead and gone can’t help making players feel like it’s time to pour one out for a departed favorite.
