Could a new buzz of Saints Row interest bring back the SR2 PC patch? Well, probably not, but let me live with this hope for a while.
www.pcgamer.com
I was very excited for that patch when it was first announced back a few years ago. If you're not into the whole SR fanbase, there was a modder named IdolNinja who created Gentlemen of the Row which was a comprehensive bug fix and content mod for Saints Row 2. He was eventually hired as a community manager and did lots of live streams over at Volition which gained him fame amongst the fans. During one of Volition's anniversary live streams, IdolNinja among other top Volition executives announced a massive mod patch that will effectively remaster SR2. As the article goes on to explain, sadly he passed away before the mod could be finished, Volition pledged to finish it to honor him and fans, but sadly Embracer Group closed them down shortly after.
The Saints Row fanbase is a very devoted one even after all of ups and downs of the franchise. This patch was a massive beacon of hope for the fans, that maybe after this Volition could pick up the pieces and make something that resembles the games we loved. IdolNinja was battling cancer and he was very open about expressing the difficulties he was facing. After he passed in 2021, the amount of love that he, his family and Volition received was very moving. The fans were dedicated to the series and wanted to see the best for it. Volition did too, but were caught up in lots of corporate red tape as well as financial issues. SR3 sold great, but 4, Gat out of Hell, and Agents of Mayhem did not. Then they did the SR reboot which still I have no interest in touching. It was clear they weren't making the games they wanted, but instead made the games shareholders wanted.
It's just a sad tale about a dedicated fanbase wanting to see the best come out of the franchise they so dearly loved only for it to be snatched up by a massive conglomerate investor group that does not have any interest in rebooting it. IdolNinja represented the fans desires, but unfortunately he had issues of his own out of his reach. Volition treated him so well, so that makes most of us think they also had the fans best interests, but again financial issues and corporate issues caused them to shut down.
This new pitch though... I don't want to get my hopes up again like with the SR2 patch, though I'm interested to see what happens to it. SR1 is still great, but he left after that, and SR2 is what the fans really love the most. SR1 was clearly trying to compete with GTA before they had an identity of their own with SR2 and I think that's the reason why SR2 is much more beloved.