With The Game Awards being one of the biggest events of the year, it's no surprise that rumors surrounding the event tend to spread quite fast. This year, major announcements rumored to take place during the events include Alan Wake 2, a gameplay reveal for Obsidian's upcoming action RPG Avowed, and maybe even a Chrono Cross remaster. However, some companies have gotten out ahead of the show, announcing that their games will be part of the ceremony including Sega's upcoming Sonic Frontiers, Techland's Dying Light 2, and now, Deep Silver's Saints Row.
Back at Gamescom, Volition and Deep Silver revealed the latest entry in the beloved open-world action franchise Saints Row, which is set to be a reboot ditching the overly comedic style of past entries. While this reboot was initially met with some negative response due to its change in style and setting after such a long hiatus for the series, the discourse seems to have died down in recent months. Now, just shortly after the announcement of a big delay, it's been revealed that fans will get their first look at Saints Row gameplay at The Game Awards.
Volition has promised a gameplay reveal for Saints Row at The Game Awards, after the game's initial reveal back at Gamescom mainly focused on introduing its cast through a CG trailer and only briefly teased gameplay. This will be the first proper look fans will get at what Saints Rows' world of San Ilesto has to offer and how it differentiates itself from the rest of the series. Volition has compared the game's combat and driving to films like John Wick and Baby Driver.
Last month, Volition and Deep Silver announced that Saints Row would be delayed from its February 25, 2022 release date to August 23, 2022, as the studio needed more time to polish the game. Despite this, three additional pieces of DLC have already been announced for the game.
Saints Row first debuted as an Xbox 360 exclusive in August 2006, developed by Volition and published by THQ. After the game was a surprise success, it went on to earn a sequel in 2008 with Saints Row 2, releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3 this time, which was an even bigger success, going on to sell over 3.4 million copies. This later led to its sequel, Saints Row: The Third, becoming one of the biggest critical and commercial hits of 2011, even competing with the likes of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim for Game of the Year awards.
By the time Saints Row 4 had released, franchise fatigue was beginning to set in, as the new comedic style of the series had become somewhat repetitive and in 2017, Volition released Agents of Mayhem, which was one of the worst reviewed games of the year and caused the developer to undergo major layoffs. Hopefully the new reboot can restore the Saints Row series to its former glory when it releases next year.
Saints Row will release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 23, 2022.