One PS Plus Game Feels Like a Slap in the Face

Summary

PlayStation is giving away three free games to subscribers this September, including the controversial Saints Row, which comes at a bad time as the developer, Volition, has just been shut down.
The Saints Row reboot was met with skepticism from fans, who were disappointed with the story, characters, and numerous bugs. The game did not meet sales expectations, and ultimately contributed to Volition's shutdown.
The fact that PlayStation is offering the studio's final game for free right when the studio has closed down feels wrong, and flaunting the game as a "the best playground" in the franchise adds insult to injury for fans of Volition.

PlayStation has been giving away free games to subscribers for years, and this September is no different, as PS Plus subscribers can once again claim three different games for their PlayStation libraries until the end of the month. Each game offers hours of content to explore, and players may even find their new favorite among the selection. While all of these free games are great, the addition of Saints Row comes at the worst possible time.

After the controversial Saints Row failed to deliver, the Embracer Group has decided to shut down Volition effectively immediately. After three decades, the developers of the Saints Row franchise are no more, and the future of the franchise is in doubt. It is sad to see a studio with such an impressive catalog of titles close down, and it is made even sadder by the fact PlayStation is giving its last game away for free. The studio was apparently not in a strong enough position to keep the franchise going, but its games are still the perfect headliner for PS Plus.

Volition's Shutdown Makes It a Bad Time to Give Saints Row Away on PS Plus

Fans were very skeptical of the Saints Row reboot when it was first announced. They wanted to have more adventures with characters like Pierce and Shaundi, but Volition had other plans as it wanted to start the series off fresh. The franchise did go a bit off the rails with Saints Row 4 and Gat Out of Hell, so having a clean slate made sense from a storytelling perspective. However, fans had also grown very attached to the formula that Saints Row The Third created, and this reboot seemed to lack the charm of those wackier entries.

Upon release, Saints Row proved most of the skeptics right. Not only did the story and characters leave much to be desired, but the game was also filled with game-breaking bugs and crashes. It was almost unplayable for a lot of people, and that resulted in some pretty mixed reviews. The game's polarizing reception seemed to affect the game's sales, as it failed to meet the Embracer Group's full expectations, and that put the future of the franchise in doubt.

After a lengthy DLC roadmap made the experience a bit better, the Embracer Group has decided to close down the studio. It may have moved Volition from Deep Silver to Gearbox in hopes that it could foster a successful future, but that future will never see the light of day. At the same time, PlayStation is giving away the studio's final game for free. It may have been a controversial title that ended up closing a studio, but it still seems to be good enough to be offered as a PS Plus monthly game.

Offering Saints Row to subscribers the same week the studio behind it closes down just feels wrong. Embracer Group was unhappy about the studio's performance, but it seems to be happy to flaunt that last game in front of fans' faces. It is the major headlining title of the month and is even being described as the best Saints Row playground ever created. If it was truly the best playground, then Volition would likely still be around, but that is unfortunately not the case.

Not only did this closure happen right before Saints Row became a PS Plus game, but also after it received a Steam launch and the majority of its post-launch content. The game is apparently good enough to receive all of that content, but Volition was still forced to shut down after three decades. Even though fans may not have loved the game, the once-beloved studio deserved more, and flaunting the Saints Row reboot everywhere just makes the entire situation feel worse.