Saints Row's original design director has been asked to pitch a prequel to publisher Embracer

It has been claimed that Chris Stockman, the design director of the original Saints Row, has been asked by Embracer Group to create a pitch for a potential prequel to the beloved franchise.

The details:

• As announced by Stockman on the Saints Row Reddit, the design director has been tasked with creating a pitch for the franchise after publicly appealing to Embracer Group to contact him in recent interviews. Stockman stated that "there is interest" and "a pitch has been requested," though he stressed this was still in early stages of development.
• Stockman's vision for the project, referred to as "Saints Row '77," is set to return the franchise to its roots by focusing on a 1970s setting where players would follow a crew of teenage characters who eventually become the main cast of the original game. According to Stockman, the game would emphasize satirical elements and a more grounded approach to humor, diverging from the increasingly absurd tone that later entries adopted.
• The announcement follows the poorly received 2022 reboot of the franchise, which Stockman has publicly criticized as "a terrible idea" that failed to meet fan expectations. The game’s failure eventually led to the shutdown of developer Volition, with Embracer seemingly planning to revive the franchise in a different direction. Stockman has also indicated he's attempting to "get the band back together" with other original developers to work on the project if it moves forward.