Last week kicked off some tempting festive sales on the eShop, with all sorts of titles (mainly those that weren't in the Cyber Deals extravaganza) having hefty discounts to help us part with our Holidays money. One that's immediately shot to the top of the charts is Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, which is being shifted with a massive 93% discount.
Normally $39.99USD / €39,99 / £34.99, it's currently $2.79USD / €2,79 / £2.44, which for a sizeable open world game is rather bonkers. We've had multiple readers so befuddled by the discount that they assumed it to be some sort of mistake or glitch, but it's just a big 'ol official discount. It's got another 10 days to run at the time of writing, which ties into the promotional window for a lot of titles that were in the official Holiday discounts that launched last week in Europe (this price cut is also in North America).
The topic of eShop pricing has come up a lot over the years, and aside from Nintendo of America setting some restrictions on lower prices of $1.99USD, there's been little to no effort to address the discount-heavy nature of the market. Because of the way the eShop charts and trends work (on units as opposed to monetary sales), a way to 'game' the store and get vital visibility is to have massive discounts. After all, 250,000 sales at a couple of dollars will likely make more money than practically no sales at full price.
Originally released back in March 2020, Saints Row IV will have had minimal sales momentum in recent times, so even a major publisher like Koch Media can see that it might as well give the game away and pick up any last gasp sales it can - it certainly makes sense.
- Feature: How Do Switch eShop Discounts Impact Game Sales?
- Feature: No More Robots Boss On How Switch eShop Is Pushing Publishers To Game The System
It's the latest example of the weird nature of the eShop charts and trends; on the plus side for all of us, a fairly notable retail title is cheaper than a takeaway coffee.
Let us know below if this massive discount tempted you to pick up the game. And if you're after similar bargains, check out our round up of some of the best games with the biggest discounts on Switch eShop right now.
Comments 86
Still too much for me.
Never played a Saint's Row game but picked this up the other day at that bargain price.
I loved this one, its crazy lol, i love it where your character is like superman OP as hell lol.
I already have it on steam, lots of mods in it.
Time is currently more valuable to me. As a non-GTA-person, is this game any good?
Eh, if the Indies can do it then it's fair game to cut prices that harshly. They'll make more money with this discount than they would letting it's rot in the backwoods of the eshop at full price.
I think I paid £1.52 via Russia
WARNING! Loved it until the game consistently crashed after a long mission without saving, never been patched. Such a shame as it runs pretty well otherwise.
@Friendly Saints Row 3 is more GTA-like, this one is more of a Crackdown type of game I'd say, from what I've played. Way more action, and sillier.
But ultimately it's still "just" a fun distraction, if you don't want a time-waster maybe it's not for you.
yeah works £2 a steal
I bought it for that price, crashes occasionally but still fun.
@BenAV lol
@Friendly It's a bit more like the world in Free Guy than GTA. Far sillier and over-the-top. You get super powers in SRIV very early on so, even though you could drive a car, you simply won't need to as you can run faster and practically fly. It reminds me a bit of Unleashed.
Also, if you play it, choose female voice 1. It's Laura Bailey from Critical Role. You can even summon Ashley Burch as a sidekick, in case you have a Tiefling friend you want to have murdered.
TBH i'm pretty sure there is a reason its so stupid low.
I bought the retail edition on day one, but at AU$4.19, a double dip is very tempting for the sheer convenience of it (in fact, I wouldn't mind paying a tiny bit extra for a digital download of a game I already own physically, but I would never default to digital unless it's DRM-free).
BUT... considering the hideous direction of the upcoming reboot, I'm not keen on rewarding them with any more of my dollars (or loose change for that matter).
I bought it a few days ago as i got mail alert with this discount.
I own same game on PC and Xbox One. Also got it on PSN+ sometime.
@Snatcher My live‘s too short for mediocre games.
I saw that and promptly picked it up. Had a small amount of gold points, so I paid a grand total of 93 cents for it. It's normally $49.99 in Canadabux lol enjoying it so far!
It’s also currently Number one on the eShop
I'm stuck in an infinite loading screen just after finishing the tutorial mission and creating my character. Apparently this is common game breaking bug so I simply do not reccomend an unplayable game
It's like GTA except much worse.
@Felixfromdownunder I've heard putting your Switch in airplane mode fixes this, and if it's the one after you fly the plane, doing barrel rolls consistently towards the end.
Bought it for 'gold coins' as soon as I saw it being on sale, I have recommended it several times since. It's a real fun and often really funny time waster, and unlike a certain definitive edition of a trilogy which I'm not going to name, it already mostly works great on Switch. Lots of fun twists in gameplay as well, making fun of or paying respect in a comedic way to great franchises. It's more a super hero (villain) game than a 'gta clone', but it's simply its own thing I'd say.
Having grown up with the relatively bug-free releases by Nintendo, I now can’t stand the bugs and crashes that plague many games these days. From the reviews I have read and the comments on here, it seems Saints Row will be too unreliable, so I’ll be skipping it despite its generous discount.
@Friendly
It's more like a Marvel movie than GTA. Actually, maybe being more like Neo in the matrix is a better description. Just combine them. You'll see.
@Solomon_Rambling
I wish I could recommend it but the game came to a screeching halt due to a bug that halts progression. Upon investigation I discovered that this is well documented but would still recommend on another console.
Oh yeah got this not downloaded yet. On other formats was brilliant. Even the crackdown open world bit jus collecting jump orbs is super fun, and oh yeah Armageddon Aerosmith don’t wanna miss a thing! Worth it xxxxxx
At that price it's worth a look even if i end up not liking it i haven't wasted much
Hurray! I earned 13 points with my purchase!!
Hopefully I can get further into this one than "The Third", where I got stuck in the tutorial, spinning round and round and round as a weapon atop a tower, and kicking my Motion Sickness into high gear.
Game is incredible. It's GTA but better in every way.
Yeah sure why not, i loved it on 360 and haven't played it since so it will be fun going back.
Already have the game on PS3, pc and PS4 so meh, good for those who want a bargain tho 😁😁
great game. Will buy again
If anyone gets past the mission where you're in a mech suit without the game crashing upon completion please let me know, I'll redownload if there's a guaranteed way to progress.
I had some Gold Coins and bought it a few nights ago. Only played about 20 minutes in so far. But it's fun. Only SR experience was The Third on the 360. Never finished it. But had fun with that one as well
It is a fun outing to be fair. Purchased it in a previous deep sale. Wasn't this deep though!
@riChchestM Ashly Burch as a sidekick... I was trying to find a reason not to grow my backlog, but now I have to buy it.
This game is a joke, with a joke pricing - they should make it 100% discount and give it to us free for Xmas. Then it's really laughable.
I never really got in Saints 4 , but that price makes me want to get it.
Definitely a better deal than GTA Trilogy for sure.
I picked it up when I saw that price last week and have been really enjoying it so far
Definitely the weakest one of the series, but for that nice low price I'd recommend it. Looking forward to the new one coming out next year too.
I never played Saints Row, but heck for 3 bucks, why not give it a shot.
Yep picked it up when I saw how absurdly cheap iit was. Been having a blast with it.
It's not the best game in the series, but it's worth £2.44.
I bought me a copy, and one for my son's switch, that he'll get at Xmas. Less than a fiver for us to have fun jumping around buildings and shooting aliens is a good deal.
I picked it up, already had the third one to get my gta fix... and especially since gta remastered was such a letdown... Saints row is serviceable.. especially at $2.79
Not going to miss this crazy sale. Going to get it as soon as I have my holiday bonus!
This game is actually a lot of fun, even if it's not the best SR game. For the price, if you never played it, it's more than worthwhile.
But for me, it would be a triple-dip, so I'll pass.
I was really tempted to get it at that price browsing the eshop earlier but not quite sure that it's my type of game. Maybe I should just buy and stash so it wouldn't take up space. I might get to playing it sometime.
Nice, throw in a few gold coins and this is the perfect free Christmas present for me this year after having a rough time with the awful GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition.
See, this is my point with switch tax being too much. It took me forever to buy hollow knight or Celeste because the switch version was so much more than other consoles. If a game is under a £5er I will buy it. I bought this and I have no intention of really playing jt any time soon or at all. Just make eshop games cheap and I’ll buy them just in case.
I have several £13-£22 games on my wish m list that I’m not yet prepared to take the plunge. If they were £5-£7 I’d have bought them like I do for PS4 sales
The game gets a lot of stick as well as the third one for being too different to the first two but I have a kind of like them for being that ridiculous. Already own it on both the PS4 and PC but will probably get it on the Switch in the next few days just to play it on the go.
Not interested in this game but I really like it when 'real' games eventually go on big eshop sales because it gets people who wouldn't normally try them to take a chance. My favorite sale of the year was 83% off Mario Rabbids (which it is again now).
Thank you gold coins. This is a good Crackdown game.
Man, what a slap in the face to people who bought this port when it first came out, lol.
Thankfully, I didn't, so I took advantage of this incredible deal. Not even that interested in the game, but if I enjoy even two hours with it, then it was money well spent. I'll take that risk.
Its pretty fun, but beforewarned, the multiplayer online is BROKEN and will crash. We were unable to save progress playing as a team. but otherwise, the game makes me laugh. its fun.
@neufel @RichChestM @Deerock69 tnx for your response! I do not think this game is for me sadly
@Felixfromdownunder Choose one of the preset characters then change it later.
Why so cheap? I paid way more 1 year ago. Damn
I picked it up as it's loads of fun. Basically matrix the game, there are some loading screen glitches. I heard most can be prevented by either redownloading or saving the game to the console's memory. Save often if you like longer play sessions, just in case.
Character creation infinite load: just select a preset character then change it later.
The alien firefight that leads to ship cutscene: don't use the alien handgun the cutscene only recognizes when you have the rifle.
Escape the ship's infinite load: turn off wifi and spam barrel roll on the last tunnel on the way out.
It's a fun game up until you get to the Pierce rescue mission where you need to fight Paul, after which the game gets stuck in an infinite loading screen, and it doesn't save after you complete the mission.
To release a game, even a port, in this day and age with all the old bugs and glitches*cough* Skyrim cough still intact is just plan cynicism from the developers and publishers and it needs to be called out more often than not.
guess there is a reason it is so cheap. my backlog is so huge, i would never get to play this game, haha, keeping my money
I got it, worked on me, I used my Gold Coins, so that was cool.
I still don't see why it's gaming the system. Do people really go to the top sellers page, see something there AFTER the sale and think, yup I'll pay full price for this game I've never heard of. Since these high discount games always fall off, I'm thinking no. End the $1.99 minimum NOA.
@Poco_Lypso Are you implying the game is cheap because it's bad? It actually got an 8/10 on NintendoLife
I miss the days I could buy a bargain bin game for like 5 cents on the eShop.
@chipia guess it just didnt sell very well then. its a 2013 game, right? I played the 1st installment a bit, didnt appeal to me, think I rather play gta than this (but then I dont even play gta, lol)
Got it with points because why not? It's a great game.
Had enough leftover eShop credit to pick this up. Really good discount here.
Get the 3rd for $13 a way better deal!
@Blackrosewaifu9000 this
@Kayvoo Me too, I encountered software error and game failing to load after only half hour of gameplay. But for this price, it's acceptable, I don't think they are going to patch it anymore, lazy developer.
@tka060681
If it works, it works. But it doesn't work.
A bit disgusted by most western games, but at this price, it's hard to let it pass. The only thing holding me back is the storage space.
I think this is really good value for money. I hope this strategy works, so they sell lots of other games at this price.
Funny I ordered the physical copy on Black Friday and it never came. Just got a refund from Amazon. Good fortune because this is 1/10th the price!
@Gwynbleidd Most video games are actually "entertainment with button pressing" , so I don't see why Saints Row shouldn't be considered a game
@Snatcher Probably just low sales nowadays. The game got good reception and many good games tend to do this when they aren't selling well or they have been out there long enough. Personally, I don't have it but it seems to be entertaining for those that like some goofy action.
@BenAV ridiculous yoooo this is like one if my all time faves
@Gwynbleidd you clearly haven’t played past the first 20 minutes - the whole intro is a joke making fun of those kind of games then a massive open world is available
@SeantheDon29 i 100%’d SRIV on Switch and it never crashed - that sucks that happened to you - sometimes I think my Switch is magical though I also never had issues with The Outer Worlds or Mortal Kombat 11 that I’ve heard about
@Octane_st1m I have exactly 101 switch games and this is one of three that I’ve 100%’d - I love it
@Gwynbleidd ohhh ok gotcha - I thought you were talking about “press X to eat pancakes” and “which presidential policy is good”
That “go to map objective” is president common for open world third person, GTA, Fable, Asassin’s Creed, Witcher - not all games are cool and trusting like Fallout and Elder Scrolls
EDIT: Lol whoops meant PRETTY COMMON idk what my phone did there
I don't care about difficulty of the game. My friend and I both bought this game; and regardless of it being considered a game or just entertainment, this game is fun in online co-op.
When I saw the sale, I couldn't help wondering if it was a terrible port.
@GannonBanned Late reply but you know what, I bought it and I am liking it right now! I never liked any games in the GTA mold but this one is enjoyable.
@Octane_st1m oh cool glad to hear that! I don’t really like to evangelize games because everyone likes different stuff, but this one knocks my socks off
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