Former design director of the original Saints Row, Chris Stockman, said that he presented Embracer with the concept of a prequel set in the 1970s, but never received a response from the rights holder. Back in November 2025, he reported that the company itself had asked him to prepare a concept for a possible reboot. After the initial interest, Embracer stopped communicating and did not comment.
Stockman described the project as a more down-to-earth story of the formation of the Saints gang without the hypertrophied absurdity of the later installments and the 2022 reboot. In his opinion, this approach could return the series to its criminal roots and become the best way to revive the franchise after the failure of the 2022 game.
In correspondence with fans, Stockman also stated that he considers the franchise to be effectively dead. According to him, Embracer apparently "has no way to do anything with it."
The Saints Row series found itself in crisis after the 2022 reboot, which received negative reviews for its plot, gameplay, and technical state at launch. Commercial results were insufficient, and in 2023, Volition, the creator of the franchise, was shut down.