Original Saints Row design director Chris Stockman is talking to the hellgods at Embracer Group about making a prequel open world game, possibly set in 1977 and containing absolutely no dildo bats. This comes almost two decades after Stockman left Saints Row development studio Volition, and a couple of years after Embracer closed Volition amid wider cuts.

Stockman is currently studio director of VR outfit Bit Planet Games, creators of The Battle of Sol and Ultrawings. He’s been bigging up the idea of a Saints Row comeback for a few weeks, publicly asking Embracer to get in touch in an October interview with Esports Insider. “I can bring much of the old band back together who worked on Saints Row 1,” he told the site at the time. “I could turn that IP around with a decent budget. They don’t even have to fund it. I could get other outside people to fund it. I could turn the franchise around. I know I could.”

Embracer have now taken the bait, or at least, expressed an interest in hearing the full pitch. “Guys and Gals, I have hopeful news!” Stockman wrote on Reddit last Friday. "I’ve been asked to create a pitch for a Saints Row reboot! “I can’t say anything more than that but my dreams for this game just became a little more than just dreams!” He added in an update that the pitch is not for a VR game. PCGamesN have separately confirmed with Stockman that the people asking him to share more are Embracer.