Saints Row 4 has had quite a ride. What started off as concept for Saints Row: The Third DLC ultimately became its very own standalone sequel. Then throw in the financial troubles of THQ and you have to wonder what it's been like for developer Volition, who was acquired by Koch Media, the parent company of Deep Silver, who was tasked with handling "all further development and marketing" on Saints Row 4.
"It's been an interesting process," senior producer Jim Boone told GameZone. "It's not something we've ever gone through before. It was sad. We had a lot of friends at THQ so it's always a sad thing when something like this happens."
While transition can be a scary time for many, Volition was confident their franchise would get picked up, but worried as to what the new acquisition meant in terms of the future of the Saints Row.
"From our perspective at Volition, we knew we had a very successful franchise with Saints Row. We were really far along with Saints Row 4 so our thought was 'someone's going to purchase us' and we already had the bid from Jason Rubin's group," Boone explained. "Point being, we weren't concerned with whether or not we'd be out of a job, but we were concerned with who is going to take over and then what will it mean when they take over.
"Luckily with Deep Silver they have not changed anything. All of the creative is 100% exactly what we had in mind from day one. They've not come in and said 'uhh, super powers, I'm not so sure. Does that make sense?' They get it and it's like keep doing what you're doing. So it couldn't be better in that way."
Of course, Deep Silver — who has never been one to shy away from controversy — couldn't have been a more perfect fit for the Saints Row franchise. We're talking about the same publisher who released a bloodied, limbless female torso as a collectible pre-order bonus. They seemed to tone things down a bit with Saints Row 4, though, offering a replica of the dubstep gun. Still, they've done quite a job marketing the game.
