THQ Nordic has confirmed that developer Volition is hard at work on a new game in the Saints Row franchise. It’s unknown if the new game is going to continue the story told in the first four entries, or if we’ll be delving into an entirely new storyline with a new cast of characters.
If you are unfamiliar with the series, Saints Row follows a street gang called the 3rd Street Saints, as they rise to power in the cities of Stilwater and Steelport. The series began as a generic open-world title, but after the release of Saint Row 2, it formed its own identity by embracing humor and over-the-top gameplay. Saints Row: The Third took the series to new heights, with a ridiculous story involving the now-world-famous gang,which has essentially grown to celebrity status, moving to a new city after a botched heist.
Gameplay is about what you would expect from an urban open-world game, with a few twists thrown in. At its core, the games are all about fighting off rival gangs and taking over territory, with a number of different activities thrown into the mix. Instead of playing as a premade character, however, Saints Row is all about creating your own unique–and sometimes incredibly silly–character to lead the gang.
That last major release in the franchise was Saints Row IV back in 2013. Since then, we’ve seen a spin-off in the form of Saints Row: Gat out of Hell, which was met with mixed reception. The series has made a notable comeback on the Switch, however, with the release of Saints Row: The Third – The Full Package. The Switch edition delivers the much-loved third entry along with all of the most of the DLC that has been released for the game.
After the fun, but overall disappointing, Agents of Mayhem, it will be nice to see Volition return to the series that put them on the map. The Saints Row franchise is a major contender in the open-world action genre, rivaling games like Grand Theft Auto with its own unique humor and gameplay. This will mark the series’ first official release on the current generation of systems, outside of the Saints Row: The Third port.
No details have been given about an expected release date, but THQ Nordic claims that the game is “deep in development.” With Gamescom looming on the horizon, there’s a good chance that we might be hearing more about the project in the coming weeks.
