Saints Row 4 developer not worried about releasing close to GTA V

Grand Theft Auto V is undeniably one of, if not the year’s most anticipated games. The game has been in the incubator for several years, and is Rockstar’s most ambitious project yet. The game was originally slated to release early this year, but was pushed back to 17th September. Which just so happens to be a few weeks away from the release of the other open world sandbox game which is Saints Row IV.

The Saints Row has always shared much in common with the GTA series, although the third installment went in favor of delivering an outlandish over the top experience instead of a more realistic tone as seen in GTA. C However, developer Volition is not concerned about the hurdles faced when releasing so close to GTA V, and says that both games feature different styles even though they belong to the same genre,  enough to avoid head on head comparison.

“Yeah, it’s a big one, and we talk about it a lot,” said producer Jim Boone in a statement to Eurogamer.

“Obviously when they announced their date and it was so close to us – that was an interesting phenomenon. But honestly, the way that we tend to look at it is that here’s this huge game that’s coming out at the same time and it’s going to sell a tonne. We know that, and it’s unfortunate from that standpoint.

“But the thing we feel good about in general is that we’re such a different game to what they are. If we were stylistically similar to the first Saints Row, I’d be horrified right now. Saints Row the Third came out the same time as Assassin’s Creed, but the games are so different in terms of what they do.

“The genre’s matured enough where you can have all these different styles and still be an open world game and be different. So I look at GTA 5 and think there’s this massive game coming out, but I don’t think with our superpowers and alien invasions that no-one will be comparing us to them.”

We agree, as Saints Row (well, at least the new installments) and GTA are completely different beast and one shouldn’t detract you from picking up the other if you’re a fan of the genre. We recently posted an article to cement the notion and also saying why comparisons between the two are pointless. Check it out here.

Saints Row IV will be arriving on August 20th in North America, and on the 23rd elsewhere.