Saints Row (2022 video game)

Saints Row is set in the fictional city of Santo Ileso, located in the American southwest and modeled after Las Vegas, Nevada. At the start of the game, the city is controlled by two warring gangs: Los Panteros, a gritty vehicle and fitness-oriented gang that runs smuggling and protection; and the Idols, an anarcho-communist gang focused on clubs and nightlife. A third faction, Marshall Defense Industries, an international private military corporation known for its high-tech weaponry, is also based in Santo Ileso, and attempts to eradicate all gang presence in the city while increasing its own influence.

The player character, known simply as "the Boss", is a former member of Marshall who forms a gang, the Saints, with the help of roommates: Eli, a successful investor and business entrepreneur that plans most of the gang's operations; Kevin, an aspiring chef who formerly worked as a DJ for the Idols and handles the execution of the Saints' heists; and Neenah, an art major and ex-mechanic for Los Panteros who serves as the gang's driver.[1][3][2]

On their first day of work for Marshall Defense Industries, the Boss apprehends a notorious criminal known as "The Nahualli", but is denied a performance bonus by the strict superior, Gwen Theriault. Nevertheless, the Boss return to a rented apartment to celebrate their success with friends and roommates Eli, Kevin and Neenah. Although affiliated with rival groups (Kevin with the Idols and Neenah with Los Panteros), the four remain more loyal to each other, and often engage in criminal activities together to afford their rent and student loans.

The Boss later helps Marshall recover a stolen Mayan artifact known as the Hummingbird Codex from a Panteros smuggling convoy, narrowly evading the gang's leader, Sergio Velez. Company founder Atticus Marshall praises the Boss for a stellar performance, and gives a promotion to head of the museum's security ahead of an unveiling gala for the Codex. The Idols and the Panteros both attack the gala to steal the artifact for themselves, with the former succeeding. Although the Boss saves the life of Marshall board member Myra Starr, this results in being fired by Atticus for failing to protect the Codex.

The following evening, Kevin and Eli attend an Idols party at a local resort, which is attacked by Los Panteros. Eli is injured, and one of the Idols' leaders is killed by the quartet after Kevin refuses an order to kill his friends. With both the Panteros and the Idols now targeting them, the group resolve to start their own criminal organization. They use an abandoned church as their headquarters, and adopt the moniker "The Saints".

The Saints take on the Idols and Los Panteros to gain territory, and to spite Marshall, the Boss helps Eli defeat Gwen in her favorite LARP tournament. To cover the operational costs, the group decide to rob a shipment of Federal Reserve cash on board a Marshall-protected train. The Boss breaks the Nahualli out of Marshall’s private prison to assist them with the heist, and they form a bond with him. The Panteros also try to rob the train, but are unsuccessful (with the Nahualli personally killing Sergio) and escape with the money. The Boss and Kevin later steal the Hummingbird Codex back from the Idols' base of operations aboard a yacht, killing two more of the gang's leaders in the process.[lower-alpha 1]

Marshall's legal counsel approaches the Saints and informs them that the group's front companies have been legally declared Marshall subsidiaries, due to the Boss having signed a non-compete agreement upon hiring. The Boss and Eli storm Marshall's headquarters to demand the return of their companies, but only find Myra Starr, as Atticus has already fled the building. Myra reveals her longstanding desire to usurp Atticus as the chairperson of the company, but explains that if Atticus were killed, the role would pass to his next of kin. Myra and the Boss collaborate to tank the company's stock price by using a Marshall tank to cause destruction in the city, triggering a vote by the board on whether to replace Atticus with Myra. The vote comes to a tie, which is broken when the Boss votes using a momentary seat granted by Myra. Atticus is fired (or potentially killed by the Boss), and Myra uses her new position to return the Saints' assets before parting ways with them amicably.

Several months later, during a party hosted by the Saints celebrating their successes, the Nahualli returns to accept the Boss' invite to officially join the gang. However, while alone with the Boss, the Nahualli betrays and stabs his former ally before explaining his jealousy of the Boss' life and his desire to be a replacement. He then buries the Boss alive while his men attack the party and kidnap Eli, Kevin and Neenah, whom the Nahualli subsequently forces to act as his friends. Surviving the burial, the Boss tracks the Nahualli to a vacant casino, rescuing the other three founding Saints and killing the Nahualli in a final gunfight atop a helipad. The four then toast to their friendship while enjoying the sunset on the rooftop and their control over Santo Ileso.

According to Volition's parent company Embracer Group, Saints Row's pre-order sales had exceeded the publisher's expectations.[34] Saints Row was the biggest-selling physical game in the UK, topping the charts in its debut week of release and selling more than five times the number of units as Volition's 2017 game Agents of Mayhem.[35] For week 2 of UK sales, Saints Row experienced an 80% drop in sales, falling from No. 1 to No. 6 on the chart.[36] During August, Saints Row was the best-selling digital game, and the second-best-selling physical game behind Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.[37] In Japan, during its first week of release, the PlayStation 4 version was the ninth-best-selling retail game, with 10,013 physical units sold; the PlayStation 5 version was the twelfth-best-selling retail game, with 7,622 physical units sold.[38]

Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors stated that while he expects Saints Row to be profitable, he felt it likely won't "have as great a return on investment as we have seen in many other games". He further expressed his disappointment of the game's "polarising" reception.[39]

By October 2022, Saints Row had attracted more than 1 million players.[40]

In November 2022, Embracer Group stated that Saints Row "did not meet the full expectations and left the fanbase partially polarized", but financially "performed in line with management expectations in the quarter." It subsequently announced that Volition would be transferred from Deep Silver to Gearbox Entertainment, stating that it "has all the tools, including an experienced management team in the US, to create future success at Volition".[41][42]