New Saints Row delayed 6 months to August 2022

Volition’s new and rebooted Saints Row is now slated for release on Aug. 23, 2022, a six-month delay from the studio’s original plan to release the game in February. Jim Boone, chief creative officer at Volition, announced the delay in a letter to Saints Row fans early Wednesday.

“Our priority is to create the best Saints Row game yet and, if we released on the original date, it wouldn’t be up to the standards we’ve set ourselves, and that you’re expecting and deserve,” Boone wrote. “The team just need more time to do our vision justice; we’re doing some fine tuning and there won’t be much change in the game outside of overall quality and polish.

“In all honesty, we underestimated the impact COVID would have on our schedule, although everyone adapted very quickly to the working from home arrangement and continued to be incredibly productive. However, due to the size and scope of our new Saints Row, it’s become apparent that to create the best game possible, we need to give our team longer to perfect their craft.”

The move to August also gets Saints Row out of the way of a busy month for video games. February 2022 will also see the release of Dying Light 2, Horizon Forbidden West, Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen expansion, and Elden Ring (which is scheduled to arrive on Feb. 25).

Boone stressed that the extra development time will not be spent changing “the story or the characters or anything that we’ve lovingly imagined over the last few years and already shared with you.” The new Saints Row’s cast is composed of an all-new, younger, and more diverse group of characters, for which Volition received some blowback from longtime players. Boone’s position isn’t new; in response to some negative player feedback, Volition said earlier this summer, “We are not backing down on this game. We get it, it’s new and it’s a shock reaction to a reboot like no other.”

The new Saints Row gives players control of Gen Z crime impresarios in the takeover of an all-new city — the corrupt, Vegas-like playground named Santo Ileso. Players will still create, style, and control their own Boss of the 3rd Street Saints, but they get all-new lieutenants whose backstories and characteristics are a lot more up-to-date.

Saints Row is bound for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC via the Epic Games Store.