Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch believes that the Saints Row franchise is dead because games like it aren’t financially viable anymore. Speaking to Game File’s Stephen Totilo, Karch spoke about the rising costs of game development, and why that means we won’t get to see many games with the same budget as 2022’s Saints Row.
In simpler terms, Karch stated that the Saints Row games were overpriced given their value. He implied that the developers lacked a clear vision and purpose during their creation. As such, he questioned who would finance another game in the series following the financial disaster they experienced.
For some context, Saints Row as a series had historically reinvented itself quite a few times. While it originally started off as a crime drama game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, with its third release, Saints Row was reinvented into more of a lighthearted game where more focus is put down to the player having fun thanks to wacky situations they find themselves in.
Saints Row 4, on the other hand, turned into essentially a superhero game, with the player having access to various superpowers that they could then use to fight off an alien invasion. 2022’s Saints Row was an attempt at a reset button, with the game aiming for a middle ground between the original Saints Row and the zanier Saints Row The Third.
Karch mentioned that the amount invested in the “Saints Row” game didn’t necessarily lead to commensurate profits. Although he admired the idea of maintaining the developer, Volition, he pointed out that it wasn’t a practical financial decision.
“It would be nice in an ideal world for everyone to have a job,” Karch said. “But games with nine-figure budgets are making eight figures in revenue and that’s dooming a lot of developers.”
Karch emphasized that the era of investing heavily in games outside of perhaps the Grand Theft Auto series has come to an end. He explained, “This industry must evolve. If it fails to do so, its future could be at risk. Regrettably, this may lead to job losses.
While an attempt was made to bring the Saints Row franchise back with a bang with a reboot of the series in 2022, the title ended up being a financial flop. Back in May 2024, reports popped up indicating that only 1.7 million copies of Saints Row (2022) had been sold. The poor performance of Saints Row amidst the general chaos surrounding the Embracer Group ultimately led to developer Volition getting shut down in 2023.
In simple terms, Embracer Group announced a plan in June 2023 to strengthen its position as a key player in the video game industry by restructuring itself. The company evaluated its strategic and operational objectives and made the tough choice to shut down Volition, which took effect immediately.
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2025-03-18 16:27