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[IbizaPocholo]

Saints Row is an action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver. It is a reboot of the Saints Row series, and the fifth main installment, following 2013's Saints Row IV. It was released on August 23, 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia. Set within the fictional city of Santo Ileso, loosely based on Las Vegas, the single-player story follows a group of four friends who start their own outlaw gang called the Saints, which they subsequently expand by seizing power from other criminal organizations in the city.

The game is played from a third-person view and its open world is navigated on-foot or by vehicle. Players can fight enemies using a variety of firearms and other tools, and call in non-playable gang members to assist them. Similarly to previous Saints Row titles, players control the gang's leader, nicknamed "the Boss", who features highly customizable traits. Outside of the main story, players can freely explore Santo Illeso and engage in several different side activities. A cooperative online multiplayer mode is also included, allowing two players to play through the single-player campaign together while progressing in their own game.

The developers of Saints Row intended for the game to return to a mixture of drama and comedy that had been present in earlier games in the series. Following its announcement in August 2021, Saints Row was met with mixed reactions from fans, with some expressing concern for the game's tone. It ultimately received mixed reviews from critics for a large number of technical issues, the writing, and elements of the gameplay feeling dated. Due to the game's reception, Volition's parent company Embracer Group announced that Volition would become part of Gearbox Entertainment.

Saints Row was Volition's final game produced as the company was shut down on August 31, 2023.

 

[STARSBarry]

I felt this one was pretty lacking on details, also I felt one topic that was very important to the game was mostly skimmed over. The horrific characters, its mentioned they are bad but goes into no detail of why they are so bad, just how the original idea eventually evolved to work with these characters. Like they talk about how they had to make new missions to make the characters make sense within the world, but did not dicuss why the characters where like this in the first place.

 

[FunkMiller]

"This game's main issue was the crowbarring in of too much of a political agenda, but I'd best not get into that for fear of being cancelled by the social media mob."

The terror from some YouTubers when it comes to criticising these things is palpable.

 

[ReBurn]

They made a game that played like Saints Row and called it Saints Row, but it wasn't Saints Row. Then they openly mocked Saints Row fans who were unhappy about their decision. So Saints Row fans didn't buy it and they all lost their jobs.

 

[squarealex]

They made a game that played like Saints Row and called it Saints Row, but it wasn't Saints Row. Then they openly mocked Saints Row fans who were unhappy about their decision. So Saints Row fans didn't buy it and they all lost their jobs.

He explains the closure of Volition is more comes from a problem with Embracer and their loss of 2 billion, than the performance of the game, even if it played a bit.
Also, Volition suffered a lot of employee departures before the February 2022 release to finish the game before it was pushed back to August 2022. The game have too many issues in development (Not for idea but especially for character developpement)

 

[ReBurn]

He explains the closure of Volition is more comes from a problem with Embracer and their loss of 2 billion, than the performance of the game, even if it played a bit.
Also, Volition suffered a lot of employee departures before the February 2022 release to finish the game before it was pushed back to August 2022. The game have too many issues in development (Not for idea but especially for character developpement)

I watched the video and blaming the closure on the $2 billion deal falling through is him tiptoeing around the issue because he doesn't want to outright admit that Volition screwed up and put himself on the wrong side of game devs.

He makes it out to be an impossible situation that was thrust upon the team and he blames management because the writing team didn't know how to pull off the reboot they pitched. He did say that they had an approved idea using the original characters, and they wanted to make the story about young people trying to pay the bills. They couldn't make it work so they had to create new characters. At that point it was no longer Saints Row, which is my point. The employee departures just reinforce the point I'm making. Even the people creating the game didn't believe in it.

Either way, if the game had been a commercial success, had hit its targets, and was bringing in solid revenue then the decision for which studios Embracer closed may have been different. Embracer management definitely risked too much on the $2 billion deal that fell through. Seeing as they didn't close every studio when they lost the deal it stands to reason they made some decisions about which ones to close based on their performance and value potential, but Volition had shot their shot and missed.

 

[Kadve]

He explains the closure of Volition is more comes from a problem with Embracer and their loss of 2 billion, than the performance of the game, even if it played a bit.
Also, Volition suffered a lot of employee departures before the February 2022 release to finish the game before it was pushed back to August 2022. The game have too many issues in development (Not for idea but especially for character developpement)

Being a company with 200+ employees only releasing 1 successful game (out of 4, RF:A, Insane, SR 4 and the new one ) sine 2011 is also something that doesn't exactly look good on your resumé. Combined with the PR disaster caused by the new game im surprised they lasted as long as they did.

 

[lockdown2222]

They made a game that played like Saints Row and called it Saints Row, but it wasn't Saints Row. Then they openly mocked Saints Row fans who were unhappy about their decision. So Saints Row fans didn't buy it and they all lost their jobs.

Yep, just let that fire burn. I just hope someone can scoop up the IP and then bring back the OG feel and life to the games franchise

 

[MasterDerico]

That what happened;

 

[The Stig]

That was happened;

now im not defending the game at all but what exactly was woke about the game?

the original game had quite a diverse cast of characters and you could give your character blue hair pretty much from the start.


the game sucked because it was crap. not woke.

 

[MasterDerico]

now im not defending the game at all but what exactly was woke about the game?

the original game had quite a diverse cast of characters and you could give your character blue hair pretty much from the start.


the game sucked because it was crap. not woke.

That too.

 

[Fake]

Matt McMuscles: Saints Row (2022) - What Happened?

 

[Flutta]

Wokeness happened and a pandemic of cowardice ( People like you who are afraid of being cancelled ).

 

[brenobnfm]

Low budget sequel to a mediocre franchise, it's really really hard to imagine what happened

 

[semiconscious]

now im not defending the game at all but what exactly was woke about the game?

the original game had quite a diverse cast of characters and you could give your character blue hair pretty much from the start.


the game sucked because it was crap. not woke.

to an extent, i agree. story-wise, the saints row / gotham knights debacles were as much about going with casts of kidults as they were anything else. what's a kidult? an adult is a 20-something that you could mistake for a 30-something, basically a mature 20-something. a kidult is a 20-something that you could mistake for a privileged teenager. & most people can't stand privileged teenagers...

 

[Robb]

They made a game that played like Saints Row and called it Saints Row, but it wasn't Saints Row. Then they openly mocked Saints Row fans who were unhappy about their decision. So Saints Row fans didn't buy it and they all lost their jobs.

Pretty much. It’s not like the series is a 10M seller to begin with so telling the actual fan base you do have to get over themselves etc. etc. wasn’t the smartest move.

 

[Faust]

"This game's main issue was the crowbarring in of too much of a political agenda, but I'd best not get into that for fear of being cancelled by the social media mob."

The terror from some YouTubers when it comes to criticising these things is palpable.

IIRC, Matt McMuscles has aligned himself with the same people who push the lazy writing, so I wouldn't have expected him to criticize or call them out on it.

 

[Kacho]

I knew Matt wouldn’t have the balls to touch on the biggest reason this game failed. He really is a REEtard at the end of the day.

 

[Dick Jones]

IIRC, Matt McMuscles has aligned himself with the same people who push the lazy writing, so I wouldn't have expected him to criticize or call them out on it.

Hilarious considering some of the off colour stuff he used to say in Two Best Friends Play.

 

[Faust]

Hilarious considering some of the off colour stuff he used to say in Two Best Friends Play.

I think that was one of the biggest reasons for the falling out between him and Pat. Pat likes to troll and say things to get people's goats. Matt, like many other at the time, probably felt morally superior and wanted to silence any "colorful" talk. I think Liam went the same way. It is a shame as they were my favorite Let's Players until Hololive came around.

 

[M.W.]

I had fun with this game. It was dumb fun, but fun nonetheless.

 

[March Climber]

now im not defending the game at all but what exactly was woke about the game?

the original game had quite a diverse cast of characters and you could give your character blue hair pretty much from the start.


the game sucked because it was crap. not woke.

It won't matter, the narrative will be the narrative

It's the same as people thinking to this day that one lady's internet rant killed 2020s G4, when they'll never do the research to know that G4 was absolutely horrible with their handling of money.

 

[Dane]

now im not defending the game at all but what exactly was woke about the game?

the original game had quite a diverse cast of characters and you could give your character blue hair pretty much from the start.


the game sucked because it was crap. not woke.

Because the game is a total burial to what made Saints Row, it is entirely sanitized and bringing all the dog whistlings to appease a public that complains about everything. To make another major issue is that nothing has improved in the design and technology, in fact, it is still stuck with the tech basis from SR2-3.

 

[Camreezie]

Why does he sound like Sensei La Dew though

 

[FunkMiller]

IIRC, Matt McMuscles has aligned himself with the same people who push the lazy writing, so I wouldn't have expected him to criticize or call them out on it.

Which is, of course, the main problem with the vast majority of YouTubers - who attach themselves strongly to one group or ideology, as that’s the easiest way to secure subscriber numbers… but renders them completely pointless and toothless as critics any time they have to deal with anything remotely controversial to their ’fans’.

 

[Faust]

Which is, of course, the main problem with the vast majority of YouTubers - who attach themselves strongly to one group or ideology, as that’s the easiest way to secure subscriber numbers… but renders them completely pointless and toothless as critics any time they have to deal with anything remotely controversial to their ’fans’.

It is odd, honestly. Easy Allies did this pretty early on and they grew stagnant. They doubled down and tripled down on it shortly after they lost a few of the founding members and their viewers declined rapidly as did their patreon subs/funding.

Meanwhile, Youtubers who stay *away* from such charged discussions and just make good arguments seemed to have grown in that same period. This need to cater to a very particular ideology just seems a bit backwards to what reality shows is, often times, more successful: Making good videos/arguments.

 

[Joshmyersbv]

They made a game that played like Saints Row and called it Saints Row, but it wasn't Saints Row. Then they openly mocked Saints Row fans who were unhappy about their decision. So Saints Row fans didn't buy it and they all lost their jobs.

Yeah Matt skimmed over this and painted a picture that made it seem like it was because the game was buggy and dealing with poor marketing for its struggling sales. The issues with the game had more to do with the tone, writing, and characters than bugs.

When those criticisms came to light as opposed to addressing them they mocked people on Twitter about it. The "haters gonna hate" tweet along with other shit only made things worse. Volition wanted so badly to get away from Saints Row but they didn't have the creative talent to make anything better.

 

[Drew1440]

"This game's main issue was the crowbarring in of too much of a political agenda, but I'd best not get into that for fear of being cancelled by the social media mob."

The terror from some YouTubers when it comes to criticising these things is palpable.

More like fear of youtube removing their monetization.

im not defending the game at all but what exactly was woke about the game?

the original game had quite a diverse cast of characters and you could give your character blue hair pretty much from the start.


the game sucked because it was crap. not woke.

The game had a lot of politics shoved into it, from certain flags being plastered around to it's scriptwriting.