Chris Stockman, creator of the original Saints Row, has shared his thoughts on the reboot, and what went wrong with it.
During an interview with ESports Insider, Chris Stockman, a veteran creator who worked as the Design Director on the original Saints Row, shared his thoughts on the franchise’s ill-fated reboot and offered his perspective on the upcoming GTA VI. He called the Saints Row reboot “a terrible idea” that “missed the mark on all of [the expectations]” fans had for the series.
According to Stockman, the project lacked a clear identity. “What is it trying to be? You’re rebooting it, but why are you rebooting it?” he said. For Stockman, a better approach would have been to lean into the series’ unique personality instead of re-imagining it in a way that stripped away its essence. “If I’d been brought back,” he explained, “I’d have taken the franchise back to the ’70s and done a prequel showing how the gangs from the first game started.” He envisioned a period piece with afros, bell-bottoms, and era-appropriate music, a direction that, in his view, would have helped set the series apart from rival Grand Theft Auto V rather than competing with it head-on. “You’re zagging when everyone else is zigging,” he noted.
The veteran game designer also expressed interest in reviving Saints Row through VR, positioning it as the “first real quality open-world story sandbox game for VR,” though he admitted the chances of that happening are slim.
Regarding GTA VI, Stockman believes Rockstar Games is all set to deliver on its reported $2 billion budget. “They’ve never failed,” he said, recalling the studio’s track record and its ability to turn even test projects like Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis into stepping stones for major releases. He expects GTA VI to perform extraordinarily well and predicts the inevitable Grand Theft Auto Online 2 will be another “10-year gravy train.” While he cautioned that AAA budgets are unsustainable, he believes Rockstar Games is the one studio that can carry the weight. “They’re the only ones that can get away with charging $100,” he said, supporting the rumored premium price tag for GTA VI.
