Volition and Deep Silver’s Saints Row reboot was one of the biggest high profile duds of 2022. The game received mixed (at best) reception upon release from critics and wider audiences alike, and unsurprisingly, that has also been reflected in its commercial performance.
In fact, the underperformance of the Saints Row reboot has contributed to the Embracer Group seeing lower gross profits over October-December period, as revealed by the company in its latest fiscal report. The company says “certain operating groups” under the Embracer Group umbrella have “underperformed” as compared to its expectations.
That said, it believes that is driven by “mixed reception for several releases, combined with a more normalized market and softer consumer purchasing power this year” rather than signaling a “structural shift”.
Last year, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors expressed disappointment over the “polarizing” reception to Saints Row, and said that though it was still projected to make a profit, it was unlikely to yield as much of a return on investments as previously anticipated.
In November, it was announced that though Saints Row had “performed in line with management expectations” for the July-September quarter, Volition was being shifted over from Deep Silver to Gearbox Entertainment in order to “ensure future success” at the studio.
Saints Row is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.