The storyline in Deep Silver and Volition’s 2022 open world action adventure game, Saints Row, allegedly had a different tone up until Deep Silver interfered.
YouTuber Flippy claims that Volition had originally planned for the story in Saints Row (2022) to be more like a Saints Row 2.5 in tone, but publisher Deep Silver intervened and said that it would not be a commercial success. Instead, they steered the game in a different direction by insisting on having it take on a more upbeat tone, with a storyline involving a group of friends.
The studio, Volition, was recently shut down by parent company Embracer Group over Saint’s Row (2022)’s lack of commercial success. If the information shared by the YouTuber is indeed accurate, it would suggest that the development team had not being given creative control over the game.
According to the YouTuber, Deep Silver ultimately called the shots regarding the direction that its IP would take. Volition wanted the game’s narrative to focus on gang warfare, but the publisher wanted the subject matter to be about friendship, which is a major departure from previous entries in the series.
The YouTuber didn’t entirely put Volition off the hook, as they said that the developer was responsible for “shoehorning” the “awful” combat system. However, according to them, a larger share of the blame goes to Deep Silver for setting a tone that the series had never been known for.
Saints Row is an action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver. It serves as a reboot of the Saints Row series, being the fifth main entry after Saints Row IV in 2013. The game was released on August 23, 2022, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia. The story is set in the fictional city of Santo Ileso, inspired by Las Vegas. It follows four friends who establish the Saints, an outlaw gang, and expand their influence by taking control from other criminal groups in the city.
Saints Row will soon be available as part of the PS Plus Essential lineup for the month of September, 2023.
