The internet reacts negatively to Saints Row reboot reveal, but developers say 'We are...

Cal Jeffrey

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In context: Like it or hate it the Saints Row reboot subtitled "Self Made" is coming. The new game takes the series in a new direction with unfamiliar characters and visuals. Even though many fans were disappointed with the reveal, the developers said, they are "not backing down," and "haters gonna hate."

Saints Row fans eagerly awaited Volition's reveal of the next game in the franchise during the Gamecom's Opening Night Live. They didn't have long to wait as the show opened with the announcement. Many walked away, scratching their heads in confusion at what they saw.

Confusion soon turned to outrage as fans bombed the announce trailer for Saints Row: Self Made with dislikes on YouTube. As of this writing, the reveal sits at 16,000 likes and 22,000 dislikes. The majority of the comments on the video are negative.

"Remember, these guys are the same people who made Agents Of Mayhem," said one viewer referencing Volition's latest poorly received action-adventure.

Another fan made a similar reference saying, "I was told Saints Row is getting a 'Reboot,' this looks less like a reboot and more them trying to merge Saints Row The Third and Agents of Mayhem together."

Others compared the game to Epic's Fortnite.

"The only character who see [sic] be a saint is the girl with the glasses, I can easily see her as a corrupts [sic] police detective whos helping the saints... the others, just no... they are Fortnite characters," said one person in the video's comments.

Another on Twitter said, "I'm not even making a value judgement [sic] on the art style, beyond that it feels like they're trying way too hard to appeal to the Fortnite audience."

Assuming the number of likes the trailer received were all SR fans (yes, it's a stretch), then it would seem that the direction Volition took with the Saints Row reboot ticked off a little over half its fanbase. The studio responded to the blowback by doubling down.

"We are not backing down on this game," Volition replied to a disgruntled fan on its official Saints Row Twitter feed. "We get it, it's new and it's a shock reaction to a reboot like no other."

Of course, with the game due out in less than six months, it's not likely that any amount of negative feedback will change the game's development course. The developers are proud of what they have created and point out that they won two Gamescom awards—Best Announcement and Best Trailer.

Some fans are also excited about the new direction the game is taking.

"I feel so bad at some of the reception I'm seeing from fans," tweeted one fan. "I appreciate that we're getting anything at all and maybe that makes me someone that's happy to get a 'crumb' but I dunno—this title makes my heart happy already and I've seen 5 seconds of gameplay."

From what we have seen so far, it's evident that the reboot is not everyone's cup of tea. It will be interesting to see if the release is well received or falls down the same hole as Agents of Mayhem.

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It's all good, I'm sure a lot of people will not back down either from not buying this game.

With a title this close to release, there's not a lot they can do to change it anyway

They should have thought of that from the start, there is not excuse here. Everything was planed and intentional so they assumed their losses on this and that's probably what's gonna happen...
 
Looking forward for the games which have spicy humour, adult content and drive the SJW/Twitter crazies mad.
I would definitely support any producer which proudly announces a "PATRIARCHY IS GOOD" game, even if it's mediocre. Why? Because I'm sick and tired of patronizing studios enforcing politics and other BS.
Games are escapism, not a means of lecturing me or anyone else. It's time we have someone providing some counter-culture anti-mainstream of sorts :))))))))))))))
 
Looking forward for the games which have spicy humour, adult content and drive the SJW/Twitter crazies mad.
I would definitely support any producer which proudly announces a "PATRIARCHY IS GOOD" game, even if it's mediocre. Why? Because I'm sick and tired of patronizing studios enforcing politics and other BS.
Games are escapism, not a means of lecturing me or anyone else. It's time we have someone providing some counter-culture anti-mainstream of sorts :))))))))))))))
You say you're tired of politics in games yet one sentence before you said you would support a game just because it has politics you agree with and you say it's time to counter the current culture. Absolutely mental.
 
The trailer wasn't bad, it just didn't really feel like a saints game. Way too much "hip and cool kids" vibe.

Something just didn't feel right abut it. I'll just wait and see what they do, but I'll temper my expectations way down.
 
If they didn't insist it was a reboot, I'm sure people would be less annoyed. But come on, changing everything to the opposite of what it was is just asking for people to call you out on it being a reboot.

And the likes/dislikes on the youtube vids so far show that. But this twitter threat seals the deal for me; 0% chance of giving them money now.
 
You say you're tired of politics in games yet one sentence before you said you would support a game just because it has politics you agree with and you say it's time to counter the current culture. Absolutely mental.
I said I'm tired of the current politics. Since apparently, all needs to be politics these days, well...
 
Reminds me of Watch Dogs 2 a bit with the woke SJW getup.

Too bad, sounds like they’ve lowered the age of their target market and made a much less serious game. Their sales will probably reflect general disappointment, and as one user stated above - they’ll blame someone else.

 
Well, how did THAT work for you? 😒 apparently the customer is right and you were wrong to mock the fans.
I guess going overboard with sjw **** stuff wasn't a bright idea..
 
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