Saints Row burst onto the open world scene again last August on Xbox… well, when we say “explode”, we mean it’s back in the spotlight. Anyway, despite our own disappointment with the title, we thought it might have done well commercially thanks to the name and its summer release window, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case.
In the latest Embracer Group Financial Report, the company outlined what went well and what didn’t go so well in its last fiscal quarter. The publisher says its PC and console release “exceeded our expectations”, and Saints Row’s reception appears to have been a major contributing factor.
“Third quarter PC/console profitability is also impacted by the amortization of game development costs for titles released with lower ROI in the first and second quarters, including the reboot of Saints Row.
It’s a fact that some operating groups in our PC/Console Games segment have exceeded our expectations this year, largely due to below-average ROI for their new game releases.
Rather than a structural change, we believe this is primarily an effect of the mixed reception of the various launches, combined with a more normalized market and lower consumer spending power this year.”
This news doesn’t come as a huge surprise, especially considering Embracer’s previous financial report. When the company launched It is Tax Summary, revealed that Volition, developer of Saints Row, would merge with Gearbox Software, the team behind the Borderlands series. Embracer hopes the move will help “create Volition’s future success.”
As for the future of this particular Saints Row series? What comes next is being evaluated, so who knows. The publisher hasn’t specified what Volition will do under Gearbox’s guidance, and we expect it will be several years before we find out.
Did the return of the Saints disappoint you? Let us know in the comments.
(source kiss.com)
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Ben is a fan of action, racing, and direct fire in every video game he can get his hands on. When he’s not playing, Ben spends his time listening to too many Guns N’ Roses, watching football, and probably eating somewhere.