Saints Row 1 designer says franchise is 'dead' after Embracer 'ghosted' him

Chris Stockman, the design director on the first Saints Row, said the franchise is "dead" in a Discord for his new company, Bit Planet Games. A screenshot on X from user papaRPG showed Stockman's response to a comment lamenting the series' recent radio silence in January: "I think the franchise is dead." Stockman added, "I get the sense that Embracer has zero ability to do anything with it," and, "I wish things were different.

I tried my best to offer a path forward but they've ghosted me." He later reiterated on the Bit Planet Discord on Feb. 17: "As long as they are in business they own it … they could license it to me or contract us to manage it, but I've done all I can do to try and make that happen." The novelty of open-world playgrounds has worn off and that style of game isn't as omnipresent anymore, megalithic Rockstar blockbusters like Red Dead and GTA notwithstanding.

If Saints Row really is dead, it joins Prototype, Crackdown, Sleeping Dogs and Sunset Overdrive in that fate.

saints row, chris stockman, bit planet, embracer, open world, rockstar, gta, red dead, prototype, sleeping dogs