The unique Saints Row was an surprising hit. Rising above the tide of city sandboxes in 2006, the sport pushed its tomfoolery additional than even Grand Theft Auto dared. The latest entry, nonetheless, was a misfire. 2022’s reboot was busted throughout technical ranges and tonally out of sync for followers. Final yr, rumors arose that the collection would possibly get one other go, however Chris Stockman, design director for the unique sport, now says the long-running Row has a fork in it. “I feel the franchise is useless, sadly,” Stockman advised a fan on Discord (by way of Eurogamer). “I get the sense that Embracer has zero capacity to do something with it.” Although Stockman hadn’t been with Saints Row developer Volition for years, he claimed final November that Embracer Group approached him to assist with a course correction for the franchise. The pitch, as he described it, was a Saints Row prequel set within the Seventies. This new setting might have executed a extra balanced job at giving Saints Row a desperately wanted contemporary coat, whereas affording itself ample alternatives for its signature buffoonery.
Keep in mind once we received excited concerning the prospect of a Saints Row prequel? Effectively based on Saints Row 1 Design Director Chris Stockman, Embracer is totally ignoring the concept. Saints Row is as soon as once more useless. https://t.co/cpPVcRjxwD pic.twitter.com/FWpjC6kmkT — rpg! (@papaRPG) February 20, 2026 Promising as that was, it didn’t get very far. Only some months later, Stockman now believes he’s being ‘ghosted’ by Embracer and that it’s in all probability the top of the street for Saints Row’s 20-year pleasure trip. “I want issues had been totally different,” he wrote. Whereas it’s since turn into the norm, Embracer Group had been one of many earlier conglomerates who received into the observe of hoovering up sport studios and squeezing them dry. They’ve toyed round with portfolios like Gearbox, Crystal Dynamics, THQ and dozens extra, all to blended outcomes. Their acquisition of Volition occurred in 2018, a part of a bundle within the buy of Koch Media. The 2022 reboot could be the one sport Volition made underneath Embracer, developed underneath routine restructuring and employees transfers between different studios. When this banged up Saints Row failed to satisfy gross sales expectations, Volition was shuttered by Embracer in 2023.
This finish is merely one other web page within the guide of Embracer squashing out hopeful sequels, having not too long ago binned revivals for Excellent Darkish and Deus Ex earlier than that. Their first outing with the Tomb Raider collection, having picked up Crystal Dynamics in 2022, is already dealing with turbulence as Embracer enacts their signature restructuring.
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