Summary
TheSaints Rowreboot was originally scheduled to be released in February 2022, but the launch was pushed to August 2022 as Volition worked to polish the game and remedy lingering issues. Unfortunately, this delay was not enough since Saints Row launched with several technical issues.Saints Row’swriting, gameplay features, and bugs were criticized heavily by players and outlets alike, leading to mixed and average reviews across the board. Just one year later,Embracer Group decided to shut down Volitioneffective immediately as the developer was deemed no longer fit to keep theSaints Rowfranchise going. Volition’s closure was trending across social media and forums with fans criticizing Embracer Group for its decision regardless of the game’s overall quality, and some fans believe the recent addition ofSaints Rowto PS Plus paints the situation in a worse light.
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Although the inclusion ofSaints Rowwas controversial, the free game achieved the second-biggest PS Plus game launch of 2023. According to a new TrueTrophies report backed by GameInsights,Saints Rowmanaged to surpass the total PS Plus player count ofJuly 2023’sCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warby 2.44% in a one-week period. The PS Plus debut ofBattlefield 2042continues to lead as the service’s biggest launch of 2023. The exact number of PS Plus players per title was not revealed, butBattlefield 2042’sPS Plus launch player count reportedly leads by 23.64% overSaints Row.
Battlefield 2042,Saints Row, andCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold Warround out the top three biggest PS Plus launches for 2023. Mojang’sMinecraft Dungeonsis the fourth-biggest launch for PS Plus followed byChivalry 2. Out of the top five PS Plus games,Saints Rowis the only game with a defunct studio as its developer.There’s still some optimism for theSaints Rowfranchisesince Deep Silver promises that “it will live on” at parent company Plaion, however.
The Volition closure does not appear to have a negative effect onSaints Row’sdebut for PS Plussince the game is experiencing a surge in players. Unfortunately,Saints Rowwill no longer receive updates and support, so players could potentially encounter bugs that may never see official fixes from its original developers.
Saints Rowis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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