Volition has been gotten better with its portrayal of genders in Saints Row IV, but creative director Steve Jaros fully agrees with Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian, who included the series in her Tropes vs. Women in Video Games show, stating on Twitter that, “This is something we all should be better at. Yes, the original saints Row is listed here. Yes, it should be.”
Jaros further told The Escapist that, “I think that we shouldn’t be portraying senseless abused women and I think that if I could go back and hop in a time machine I would have done things differently.
“I think it’s fair to be called out on your shit. I think that it’s a sad man that can never be self-reflective. I think that we tried to go and carry ourselves with respect, and try to respect sexuality and respect gender as much as we can, and sometimes we fail but hopefully we’ll do better and continue to get better.”
Volition is currently working on Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell for the current and previous gen platforms and an Xbox One/PS4 port of Saints Row IV, both due in January 2015.