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‘Saints Row: The Third’ gets a surprising port to the Nintendo Switch

Felicia Miranda
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Earlier today, publisher Deep Silver Fishlabs announced on Twitter that Saints Row: The Third will be getting a port to the Nintendo Switch. We did happen to catch a peek of some footage of it on the Switch along with a few other titles during Koch Media’s showcase, but as of right now, we have no release date or window to look forward to.

If you’ve never dabbled in a Saints Row game, it’s often said to be similar in style to the Grand Theft Auto series, featuring chaotic third-person shooting, an urban open-world littered with quests, and a story centered around gang lifestyle.

Saints Row: The Third - Power CG Trailer

This would be the first game of the series to be ported to a Nintendo console. It seems a little strange that Deep Silver would decide against porting the more recent installments to the series, Saints Row: Gat out of Hell and Saints Row 4.

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That said, Saints Row: The Third is considered a fan favorite and high point of the franchise. Initially released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC back in 2011, it’s a very highly reviewed game, receiving eight-out-of-ten scores from many publications. In our review, we said that “while Saints Row isn’t genre defining or breaking new ground, it is a clear example of a game done right.” The title’s polish and humor put it a step ahead of many other open-world games that came out that year.

It’s also possible this could be part of a plan to slowly introduce a few older fan-favorite titles to the Nintendo Switch, a practice that seems to be a trend among publishers with the popular handheld console.

In any case, in the tweet mentioned above, Deep Silver hinted at the possibility of more information on this news emerging at Gamescom 2018. We’re doubtful that we’ll be hearing a release date for the Saints Row: The Third port this week, but since today is the first day of the convention, we hope this means we’ll be seeing more than just the few seconds of footage we saw during the showcase earlier.

This news along, with the announcement of a release date for Shenmue 3, is just a small part of this week’s Gamescom. 

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Felicia Miranda
Felicia Miranda
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Born in '89 and raised through the 90s, I experienced what I consider to be the golden age of video games. At an early age, I…
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