Saints Row Reboot Goes Gold Ahead Of August Launch

The long-awaited Saints Row reboot has now gone gold, under a month before it is scheduled to launch on last-gen and current-gen consoles, as well as PC.

WCCFTech reports that development on the new open-world title has finally wrapped up, as announced by the team themselves on Twitter. By "going gold," it means the game is now being readied for shipping to retailers before its official launch on August 23rd. This is good news, considering the game was already delayed once from its original February 2021 release window.

The first delay was due to developer Deep Silver Volition's desire to add further polish to the game. Since it's an open-world mayhem simulator, the new Saints Row game definitely needed some extra time in the oven. Here's what Chief Creative Officer Jim Boone had to say about it:

"Our priority is to create the best Saints Row game yet and, if we released on the original date, it wouldn't be up to the standards we've set ourselves, and that you're expecting and deserve. The team just need more time to do our vision justice; we're doing some fine tuning and there won't be much change in the game outside of overall quality and polish."

The news of the Saints Row reboot going gold follows the early release of their Boss Factory demo back in June. The demo allows players to pre-create their "Boss" (aka the main character) for the game before it is out and also gives them the option to upload their created character into Saints Row when it is finally out.

We at GameNGuide tried out the demo ourselves, and we were floored by the insane amount of customization options within it. Volition really wasn't kidding during the trailer that anyone can be anyone in their game because you can customize far more than just the basics in the Boss Factory.

In our trial, we didn't go too crazy, but we ended up with a character that looks like a gym buff version of Sharon Stone from the 90s:

Either way, Saints Row 2022 is launching for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via the Epic Games Store next month - with no delays in sight.

Everything Else We Know About The Saints Row Reboot

Now well on its way to launch, Saints Row 2022 is the game you get if you put GTA's mayhem on steroids. But in comparison to the older games in the franchise, it's a bit more grounded and less wacky.

That was very much what the 23-minute gameplay shown by Eurogamer indicated. Here is the walkthrough, which focuses a lot on what players can do in the game's massive open world:

The game is set in a city called Santo Ileso, which was patterned after the American southwest. TechRadar says that while the setting is completely new compared to previous games in the series, it might still feature a few easter eggs giving an ode to the older titles. But this game is bringing about a brand-new story that doesn't fit with any other game, meaning it's going to be far more welcoming to newcomers who have never tried a Saints Row game before.

As "the Boss," your main goal will be to establish your very own criminal empire by tackling the three rival gangs controlling Santo Ileso. You'll be putting up businesses, dealing with rivals, and just causing pure mayhem on the streets on your way to becoming a kingpin - complete with the humor that the Saints Row franchise has been known for over the years.