Saints Row 1 design director Chris Stockman has said he believes the series is now “dead” and that owner Embracer has “zero ability” to do anything with the franchise.
The one-time Grand Theft Auto competitor hasn’t seen a new entry since 2022’s ill-fated reboot, Saints Row. It received a mixed reception from fans, with IGN’s Saints Row review returning a 6/10. “Saints Row delivers no shortage of shallow shoot ’em up thrills, but it’s a very familiar and uninspired brand of sandbox fun,” we said at the time. Sales were depressed, and developer Volition shut down in 2023. We haven’t heard about Saints Row from Embracer since.
So, is Saints Row dead? Stockman, speaking in the Discord for his studio, Bit Planet Games, said he thinks it is, having pitched a revival to Embracer (via subsidiary Plaion) and heard nothing back.
Stockman, who left Volition during pre-production of Saints Row 2, said last month: “… honestly, I think the franchise is dead, unfortunately. I get the sense that Embracer has zero ability to do anything with it.”
He continued: “I wish things were different. I tried my best to offer a path forward but they’ve ghosted me.”
IGN asked Embracer for a statement on Stockman’s comments and for a status update on Saints Row, but a spokesperson said the company does not comment on “rumors and speculation.”
More recently, Stockman clarified he’d spoken to Plaion about Saints Row, and he asked about the possibility of selling the IP, “but as I mentioned before they refuse to respond to my messages and emails.”
“Companies of that size almost never sell their IP because it, ultimately, devalues their purchase price if they decide to sell or try to take on investment,” Stockman said.
The upshot of all this is Saints Row celebrates its 20th anniversary this year (the first game came out on August 29, 2006) and it feels like a new game in the series is further away than ever. But one thing seems clear: if the company does have a secret plan for a new Saints Row, Stockman isn’t involved.
“As long as they [Embracer] are in business they own it,” Stockman added. “If they went out of business or filed for bankruptcy it would get auctioned off to the highest bidder.
“They could license it to me or contract us to manage it. But I’ve done all I can do to try and make that happen.”
Upcoming Embracer games include Killing Floor 3, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, the Embracer-owned Crystal Dynamics’ new Tomb Raider games, and Darksiders 4. The fate of the Lord of the Rings MMO, developed by Amazon Games in collaboration with Embracer-owned Middle-earth Enterprises, is unclear. Dead Island 3 is in the works at Dambuster Studios, and is due out in the first half of 2028.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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