Saints Row finished second in the August NPD report, so how bad could things possibly be? Well, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors, whose company owns developer Volition, doesn’t sound too enthusiastic at all. “Personally, I had hoped for a greater reception of the game,” he said, as reported by Axios’ Stephen Totilo. “It’s been a very polarized view.”
While we thought the title was a perfectly agreeable reboot, others have been less generous. “There is a lot of things that could be said and details around it,” Wingefors continued, alluding to the reception. “I’m happy to see a lot of gamers and fans happy. At the same time, I’m a bit sad to see also fans not happy. It’s difficult.”
The executive admitted that it’ll await more data in November, and insisted he’s confident the project will turn a profit in time. “Will it have as great a return of investment that we have seen in many other games?” he pondered. “Not very likely, but we will make money and that’s a good starting point.”
Saints Row is one of Embracer’s higher budget projects, and therefore it needs to sell more copies to be considered a success. This may explain why, despite the game charting quite highly, Wingefors is speaking like it’s flopped. After all, chart placement does not give us a great indication of sales figures, and it sounds like the reboot has failed to outsell previous entries.
All of this begs the question: is there a future for the series? “Obviously you always want every instalment of any IP to be greater than the last one, but what you do is evaluate your position, the outcome, and there [are] hundreds of people engaged in this game in the group. I still have a great trust in those people, and I am sure they will recommend things for the future.”
We appreciate the candid nature of these comments, but we don’t think we’ve ever heard an executive be quite so honest about the performance of a game that just released.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 46
Would have helped if they hadn’t tried to “reboot” it and just kept true to the character of the series.
After viewing some gameplay and being really disappointed by the nerfed character creator, I didn’t bother. Playing 3 through on Extra instead and really enjoying it.
They should just split the franchise into two. Keep one called Saints Row with all the wackness from the later games and spin-off another series called 3rd Street Saints or something to satisfy the older fans. When you've taken a series in multiple directions, you will attract fans that want different things from the IP.
It probably didn't help that the game looked decidedly last-gen in terms of gameplay and about as tame as 2-3 iterations ago in the series. It looked like literally the same thing as before but in a new location and with LESS to do. And while that's fine sometimes, it didn't push the envelope for a series that has literally been to Hell and back and included super powers and whatever.
Scaling it back and just made it seem pretty meh, and I say that as someone who has played all of them to completion, with a few 100%s in there.
It did nothing to make me think it was bringing anything new to the table. And as a PS5 owner, it didn't seem like it was utilizing the hardware I paid for whatsoever. I'd rather grab it for $15-20 down the road when I have nothing else to play.
Where are gameplay innovations like parkour? Or better shooting mechanics like a cover system? Destructible environments and improved physics? It was just... "Saints Row 3 but elsewhere".
Embracer Group are just a hedge fund pumping out AA schlock. I do love some AA schlock though.
Slightly concerning with saints row being one of higher budget games considering the outdated gameplay that feels more at home in ps2 Era. Even considering gtav has been out for ten years and is miles better. Also the characters were very boring . Here's hoping the embracer group do better with their other franchises like legacy of kain/ tomb raider / deus ex . I really don't see a future for saints row unless they reboot it again
The franchise was already dying after saints row 4 & I think this game really put the nail in it's coffin I hope we get remasters of 1 & 2 though because those are great games that could really benefit from a a visual overhaul aswell some qol improvements
So, why make it?! 🤦🏻♂️
How big of a budget could this possibly have had? It looks like a AA game from half a generation ago. Which isn't a bad thing, but, at the same time, surely it doesn't need to sell tens of millions of copies in order to turn a decent profit, right?
So happy to see the game fail. It was truly pathetic. Hope they've learnt something from this and put some actual quality effort into making something that isn't decades behind and that people actually want to play next time.
Also, I can't even remember the last time I've seen a video game with such god awful writing. As a writer myself, it really, really fires me up, and is probably one of the biggest reasons I am celebrating this game's failure. I absolutely hate it.
The issue with Embracer is that while they own a lot of stuff, barely any of that stuff is consistently high quality. The acquisition of Western Square stuff should hopefully help this, but whatever idc really about the health of a massive conglomerate that entered the gaming sphere by just buying everyone.
There is a lot I could say about this game, the budget, the sales, the feedback and discussion surrounding it, but none of what I have to say is nice.
So aside from this, I won't say anything.
You can’t please everyone. Every reboot forms fanbase splinters. Better to stay the course than reboot the reboot.
@themightyant that part is PS saying they liked the game but other reviewers didn’t.
Agents of mayhem route...will be £1.99 in a year or so
Looks like embracer group also acquired unreasonably high sales expectations in the Square Enix studio purchase
I don’t understand how you could expect anything but this reception with the technical issues, lack of innovation, Xbox 360 era gameplay and the downright detestable characters.
Everything from this series has gone so downhill after SR2 and this will be what finally kills it off. Looks like that’s another one for the game franchise graveyard.
Just remaster Saints Row 1 & 2 and call it a day.
@SinfulDestroyer Yeah just wait a little its one if not the biggest corp around.
The trick is being able to innovate but at the same time be able to please longtime fans of any series. Not an easy feat, I guess...
Makes me fear for tomb raider - will we have another Square Enix 'it sold below expectations ' situation
@themightyant you may have misquoted. it was the review on this very site that said it was a good reboot, not the CEO
It's a shame that this game has been so hated on from the minute it was announced as being in development simply for being new. What has happened to gaming?
@sinfuldestroyer but embracer dont own a console and arent limiting games to said console.
@Rob_230 Even with the bizarre comments from Square Enix’s management, we still got three rather good Tomb Raider games. I was fairly blown away by the first one when it came out, and although there were some diminishing returns with the sequels, I found them all enjoyable.
I guess what I’m saying is that poor management often gets in the way of good games, but not always!
I think all these games in this genre with the likes of say cyberpunk need to realize that they built these massive maps and need to cut the online community loose in the worlds like that of the blueprint left before from gta…. Or say a fortnight/ apex/pubg online style battle royal game mode in the world they made… that’s all gta did and fine tuned it over time but made it more about mission. Make flying cars and shark cards and any one of these games that flopped when released would evolve into something potentially special depending on the drive of the people in the trenches…. that would last just as long as gta…. people would pay to go gta style or battle royal style in these worlds… and that in return would get them to play the main game for fun I think. This all reminds me… I still gotta check out ghost of Tsushima online…. Would love to drop into that game/map and go stealth ninja in a battle royal mode ha.
I don't see how this was a reboot in any shape or form. Same gameplay, graphics, tone, feel, and obnoxious characters.
When I think of reboots I think Resident Evil, Wolfenstein, Doom, Tomb Raider, God of War, Fallout.
@Vil I have no hope for Volition anymore. After Agents of Mayhem and now this piece of trash? It's over for them, they had so many chances of listening to fans wants and they never did.
@stefan771 "For simply being new"
Bud if you like the game that's fine but do some actual research before spitting out nonsense.
Oh people didn't want the staff of a bookstore as a gang and an attempt to be more serious?
In all fairness the gameplay is the most disappointing part from the looks of it.
@stvevan @Ryu_Niiyama thanks for the correction, I missed that.
I just don’t see how you can claim a title is an next gen ‘reboot’ and turn out what is supposed to be a AAA title which looks like it’s from a previous generation.
It’s as though no clear decision was made one way or the other. People (ie me) would happily accept a game which isn’t graphics driven on the basis it’s a bonkers and non-pc as previous entries; they were hugely enjoyable. I might also have given it a go if it wanted to take a more serious tone and be a more serious game … if it looked and felt like it. A game which is basically neither of these things and caught in an uncomfortable no-mans-land in the middle? Not so much…
All seemed a bit cringe to me. If the main protagonists had of been a bunch of old age pensioners I think it would have done far better. People are up for unusual stuff like that now.
He should work for Square Enix.
@Vomit God of War wasn't a reboot though, it's a sequel.
The cast of characters are just not likeable.
They seem to forget that the demographic the gang designs were aimed at either don't have or don't spend money. They just act loud on twitter.
The trash gameplay alienated actual fans and gamers even further.
Just, don't pander to those weird people on twitter when making a games 😕
Gameplay looks kinda fun but the characters and general tone of the game looks like it's been filtered by a bunch of Karen's on Twitter..
...To the point where the mothers of 10-12 year olds probably wouldn't even have an issue with their kids playing this game.
That's the problem. Saints Row easily has 10 million existing fans worldwide. If they had just given us what we wanted from this game then sales would've gone through the roof. Then the game would've gained extra publicity by getting slammed on Twitter for having such 'appalling content'
I probably would have bought it if it hadn't released in a buggy and broken state. I can maybe overlook the major problems people had (same as I did with Last of Us 2) if the gameplay was fun and, y'know, worked. I'll wait for a big sale or for them to put it in PS Extra.
@Milktastrophe
It’s a rebootquel.
It started a new story arc, completely new gameplay style, and the emotional core of GOW18 is a million miles removed from classic GOW.
Basically it’s an entirely new game outside of Kratos and his backstory.
@Milktastrophe I've always looked at it as a reboot, but I might be wrong. Either way, Saints row did nothing new with this so called reboot.
Glad to read this. This is what happens when you don't care about the fans.
Go woke go broke.
Next time try not to pander to minorities on Twitter and try to pander to the general global population who will be the ones that will actually support your game.
@Finozzi1696 believe it or not, there's a lot of people who aren't white males. It's perfectly fine to have non-white-male characters in video games.
@Finozzi1696 Exactly. That's what happens when pink haired writers try to "cater the game to a modern audience". That woke aesthetic is an instant turn off to a vast majority of people. Mark my words: GTA VI is next.
i still can’t fathom what the hell they were thinking when they crapped this game out
@get2sammyb Do they have plans for Story DLC at this time?
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