The Ghost of Santo Ileso: Is Saints Row Truly Dead, According to its First Architect?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Saints Row's original design director, Chris Stockman, has declared the franchise "dead," citing that publisher Embracer Group has "ghosted" his revival efforts and lacks the ability to move forward with the IP, following the poorly received 2022 reboot and Volition's closure.
Right, so you know that feeling when you've got a brilliant idea, you pitch it with all your heart, you even get a nibble, and then the cosmic phone line just goes utterly, utterly silent? Yeah, well, it seems the original wizard behind the chaotic antics of Saints Row is feeling that sting right now, and he's not just miffed – he's declaring the whole bloody dang franchise *dead*.
We're talking about Chris Stockman here, mate, the design director who helped lay the foundations for the original Saints Row. For years, the series has been like a wonderfully unhinged relative – sometimes brilliant, sometimes a bit much, but always full of… character. From its humble beginnings as a more grounded (if still bonkers) open-world crime sim, it evolved into something truly unique, full of purple suits, dubstep guns, and extraterrestrial overlords. Then came the 2022 reboot, a game that, shall we say, didn't exactly blow a hole through reality in the way its predecessors often did. More like a gentle waft, really.
Now, Stockman, ever the innovator, wasn't ready to let his creation fade into obscurity. Back in November, he stirred up a bit of a buzz by revealing he had some fresh ideas for reviving the series, especially after the lukewarm reception of the 2022 reboot (which, crucially, was developed after he'd already left Volition, the studio behind the games). He even hinted that publisher Embracer Group – the current IP holder, who've been doing a bit of an industry-wide hoovering up of studios and IPs lately – had reached out, keen to hear his grand vision. A glimmer of hope, right? A chance for the Saints to rise again, perhaps with fewer millennial catchphrases and more genuine mayhem.
But fast forward a few months, and Stockman's optimism has, regrettably, gone completely pear-shaped. Responding to a fan on Discord who lamented that the last *canon* game came out a decade ago, Stockman dropped a rather large, heavy, and very purple bomb. He stated that Embracer has, and I quote, "ghosted him" and now has "zero ability to do anything with [the franchise]."
"Honestly, I think the franchise is dead, unfortunately," Stockman candidly told the fan. "I get the sense that Embracer has zero ability to do anything with it. I wish things were different. I tried my best to offer a path forward, but they've ghosted me."
Bloody hell. That's a pretty damning pronouncement from someone who knows the series inside out. It's like your favourite wizard declaring their most potent spell has been completely forgotten, its components scattered to the winds. And this rather grim prognostication, originally brought to light by Vikki Blake over at Eurogamer.net, paints a rather bleak picture for the future of Santo Ileso and its flamboyant inhabitants.
Now, Stockman's comments don't just exist in a vacuum. They echo a wider narrative of… well, let's call it 'corporate turbulence' surrounding Embracer Group. Last year, they went through a rather aggressive "restructuring program" – a fancy corporate term that often means studios getting shuttered and projects getting cancelled faster than you can say 'microtransaction'. Volition, the very developers behind Saints Row, became a casualty of this program in 2023, closing their doors entirely. It's a sad end for a studio that, despite recent wobbles, gave us so many memorable gaming moments.
Even Matt Karch, the CEO of Saber Interactive (another studio under the Embracer umbrella), wasn't pulling any punches about the 2022 reboot and Volition's final days. "They didn't know what they were building," Karch said, dishing out some frankly brutal honesty. "They didn't have any real direction. It couldn't last. And so, who's going to fund them for the next game after that disaster?"
Ouch. When a fellow industry exec is basically saying your last effort was a directional train wreck, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence for the future. I mean, I recall playing the 2022 game myself – gave it a spin for a review back then. I found it a perfectly *mediocre* affair, if I'm honest. I reckoned it "won't set the world alight, but there's a punchy game here with some pleasant surprises." It wasn't a total disaster, but it certainly wasn't the reality-bending, expectation-shattering experience Saints Row had become known for.
So, what does this all mean for the Saints? Is it truly curtains? When an original creator says a franchise is "dead" and a publisher seems to have dropped the ball so completely, it's hard to be overly optimistic. Embracer's current strategy seems to be less about nurturing beloved IPs and more about, well, *restructuring* their vast acquisitions. It feels like they've got this incredible magical arsenal, but they've forgotten how half the spells work, or worse, they've lost the spellbooks.
For gamers, it's always a bit of a heart-sinker when an IP goes into this kind of limbo. We've seen it before – franchises that lie dormant for years, sometimes decades, before a passionate team (or a desperate publisher) digs them up for another go. But the specific comments from Stockman, about Embracer having "zero ability" to do anything, suggest a deeper paralysis. Is it a lack of resources? A lack of vision? Or simply a lack of interest amidst a sea of other, perhaps more lucrative, properties?
Perhaps 'dead' isn't forever. Maybe it's just in a very deep, corporate-induced coma, waiting for a true digital necromancer to wake it up. Or perhaps, just perhaps, it means the spirit of Saints Row will have to find a new vessel, an indie studio, or a spiritual successor to carry on its legacy of joyful, anarchic mayhem. One can only hope, eh? Because honestly, a world without the potential for more purple-clad mischief feels a little less vibrant. We'll keep our ears to the ground, mate, for any whispers from the digital ether. You never know when a forgotten spell might just accidentally work its magic again.
Tags: Saints Row, Franchise Death, Embracer Group, Gaming Industry, Volition
Original article: Eurogamer