Highlights
- Despite recent controversy and the closure of its developer, Saints Row has seen a surge in popularity among PlayStation Plus subscribers.
- The game's inclusion in the subscription service was poorly timed, as it received heavy criticism for technical issues and bugs upon its launch.
- Despite the closure of Volition, the game's original developer, there is still optimism for the future of the Saints Row franchise under parent company Plaion.
PlayStation Plus subscribers appear to be trying out Saints Row in droves despite the recent controversy involving the closure of developer Volition. Saints Row is one of the free titles offered in the PS Plus September 2023 monthly games lineup, but many fans online believe the game's addition to the subscription service was poorly timed.
The Saints Row reboot 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's writing, 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 Volition effective immediately as the developer was deemed no longer fit to keep the Saints Row franchise 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 of Saints Row to PS Plus paints the situation in a worse light.
Although the inclusion of Saints Row was controversial, the free game achieved the second-biggest PS Plus game launch of 2023. According to a new TrueTrophies report backed by GameInsights, Saints Row managed to surpass the total PS Plus player count of July 2023's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War by 2.44% in a one-week period. The PS Plus debut of Battlefield 2042 continues to lead as the service's biggest launch of 2023. The exact number of PS Plus players per title was not revealed, but Battlefield 2042's PS Plus launch player count reportedly leads by 23.64% over Saints Row.
Battlefield 2042, Saints Row, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War round out the top three biggest PS Plus launches for 2023. Mojang's Minecraft Dungeons is the fourth-biggest launch for PS Plus followed by Chivalry 2. Out of the top five PS Plus games, Saints Row is the only game with a defunct studio as its developer. There's still some optimism for the Saints Row franchise since Deep Silver promises that "it will live on" at parent company Plaion, however.
The Volition closure does not appear to have a negative effect on Saints Row's debut for PS Plus since the game is experiencing a surge in players. Unfortunately, Saints Row will no longer receive updates and support, so players could potentially encounter bugs that may never see official fixes from its original developers.
Saints Row is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: TrueTrophies
