Volition: Saints Row Has Empowered Minorities and Women

When you look at a series like Saints Row, the word “progressive” doesn’t exactly come to mind. There have been enough scantily clad women and obvious stereotypes to shake a giant, purple bat at in the first three games, and the intensity of the humor only seems to be increasing in the upcoming fourth title. However, in the eyes of associate producer Kate Nelson, the franchise is taking some good steps forward.

“I think our game actually does represent women in a positive way, but the press will focus on, oh hey, there are strippers, or there’s a dildo bat – it’s unfortunate from my perspective that that doesn’t come through,” Nelson said in an interview with Edge. “Because I hear women talk on panels and they’re like ‘there are no people that look like me in games.’ Well, actually in my game [the main character] can look like you as our customization system is so extensive. We don’t get that across in our marketing or in the press because it’s difficult – we only have 30 seconds to explain.”

Saints Row 4 was refused classification in Australia, and if you look at any of the recent gameplay trailers, you’ll see plenty of reasons why some people might feel uncomfortable saying they enjoy all of the insanity. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a fair share of bright spots that might even empower different types of people.

“Saints Row, in lots of ways, has empowered minorities and empowered women, which I think is important to get across,” she said.

Volition’s fourth crack at Saints Row will launch on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC August 20.