14 DAY TRIAL // Steve Jaros, the creative director working at Volition, admits that the Saints Row series should be on the list of video games that have portrayed women in negative ways during their history, and he says that the entire industry needs to significantly improve its standards in the coming years.
The developer is quoted by VG247 as saying that “This is something we all should be better at. Yes, the original Saints Row is listed here. Yes, it should be.”
The statement comes after the release of a new installment in the Anita Sarkeesian-made series Tropes versus Women in Video Games, which catalogues the way various development teams have portrayed women in negative ways.
A lot of players reacted angrily to her comments and have gone so far as to threaten her, while plenty of members of the development side of the industry have admitted that they need to change their ways in the near future.
Steve Jaros adds, “I think it’s fair to be called out on your [expletive]. I think that it’s a sad man that can never be self-reflective. I think that we tried to go and carry ourselves with respect, and try to respect sexuality and respect gender as much as we can, and sometimes we fail but hopefully we’ll do better and continue to get better.”
The changed position from Volition should be apparent in the coming titles in the Saints Row series.
At the moment, the studio is working on a standalone expansion for the fourth core title in the series, called Gat Out of Hell, which will allow gamers to literally descend into the pit of fire and darkness in order to battle the Devil for the soul of the main character.
Players can choose whether they want to become Jonny Gat or Kinzie Kensington, and the developers are promising an array of new weapons with innovative powers in order to take out demonic enemies.
Saints Row 4 – Gat Out of Hell will be launched in January of 2015, and at the same time, gamers will be able to get a new Re-Elected version of the title which is designed to work on the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony.
Rumors are currently saying that a big part of the Volition team is already working on a fifth core title, which will only be offered on current-gen consoles, and that an official reveal will take place in early 2015.