It introduces online multiplayer, an in-game mobile phone, GPS navigation, and elaborate character and vehicle customization. The game was renown for being the first seventh-generation sandbox game, and introduces new features which have since become staples to the genre. The new mayor Alderman Hughes invites the player character aboard his private yacht, which is subsequently blown up apparently killing all on board. After Winslow is assassinated, Monroe is murdered by the Saints, and Julius is freed. After the gangs have been eliminated, Police Chief Monroe kidnaps Julius Little and offers the player to exchange Julius' freedom for mayor Marshall Winslow's life. The player character is inducted into the 3rd Street Saints gang, and assists the Saints in eliminating three rival gangs that control the city. The game is set in the fictional city Stilwater.
To date, the game has had sales in excess of two million units. It had sales in excess of five hundred thousand during its September 2006 release month, and was critically acclaimed. As the first sandbox style video game to be released for the Xbox 360, Saints Row was widely anticipated its pre-beta demo build set records after being downloaded nearly four hundred thousand times within a week. The game was first announced at E3 2005 for the Xbox 360.
Saints Row was the first installment in the series as a whole, having begun development in mid 2003 as a PlayStation 2 title under the name Bling Bling.