News of game delays in the age of the pandemic have become commonplace but the recently-announced setback for Saints Row is rather hefty as the game moves out by a full year.

In the reveal of the game we got a release date of 25th January 2022. The new date is now six months later on 25th August 2022.

“Our priority is to create the best Saints Row game yet and, if we released on the original date, it wouldn’t be up to the standards we’ve set ourselves, and that you’re expecting and deserve. The team just need more time to do our vision justice; we’re doing some fine tuning and there won’t be much change in the game outside of overall quality and polish,” writes Jim Boone, Studio Development Director at developer Deep Silver Volition.

For those expecting that this was caused by anything other than the pandemic, well Boone mentions it by name.

“In all honesty, we underestimated the impact COVID would have on our schedule, although everyone adapted very quickly to the working from home arrangement and continued to be incredibly productive,” Boone adds.

While this is a lengthy delay it may end up helping Saints Row in the long run. This is because other game releases have made early 2022 a particularly competitive stretch of time.

Both games originally planned for release in this period – such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus on 28th January 2022 – will go up against titles that were delayed into this release window. Dying Light 2 on 4th February 2022, Sifu on 22nd February 2022 and Horizon Forbidden West on 18th February 2022 will all be fighting for attention and the money of customers.

Even earlier in January will be packed aside from the aforementioned new Pokémon game. Rainbow Six Extraction (20th January), Monster Hunter Rise PC port (12th January 2022) and the God of War PC port (14th January 2022) are all pencilled in for that month.

While the Saints Row delay is here because of COVID-19, it may help it avoid some tough competition, and some extra polish is something the games industry needs after the flop of contemporary open world games in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.

“Over the past two years, all corners of the entertainment industry have been affected/impacted in one way or another. As gamers ourselves, we know what it feels like to have something delayed which you’ve been looking forward to; it’s frustrating and you feel disappointed. But we also know that when we finally get Saints Row in your hands, it will have been worth the wait. It’s our absolute priority to get this right,” Boone concludes.