However, that willingness to go so far over the top and skewer absolutely everything meant that
Saints Row often went way too far. The
Saints Row games have historically been filled with homophobia, racism, numerous instances of sexual violence towards women being played for laughs, and numerous other instances of crass content often justified in the name of parody.
The series actually did get a little better in that respect as it went on (honestly, some
Saints Row moments and characters are downright wholesome in their own way), but there’s a degree to which embracing the franchise at its best meant being willing to tolerate, overlook, or yes, even love the games at their worst. At some point, the offensive nature of the
Saints Row series became one of its defining features.
Right from the start, the developers of the 2022
Saints Row reboot have been clear about their desire to target some of
Saints Row‘s most offensive elements while attempting to retain some of the absurdity that helped make the rest of the franchise work. In an interview
with GamesIndustry.biz, Saints Row producer Rob Loftus offered this explanation for the team’s desire to not just reboot the franchise but to reexamine some of the themes that the franchise was built upon:
“It wasn’t a choice where somebody on the publishing side, or somebody on the business side said, ‘You know what? Societal tastes have changed and we need to change
Saints Row. It was our own thinking that drove this…I think that a lot of content creators and brands are trying to expand their audience. And that means not connecting with that type of humour. It’s about connecting with a type of humour that is more suitable for a larger audience.”
