The holidays are here and they’ve brought new DLC for Saints Row IV. Cozy up to the fire and enjoy this delightful—and delightfully twisted—trip to save St. Nick and restore the holidays to the world. Here’s the sell text:

How the Saints Save Christmas (1953) – Santa is trapped inside the Simulation but the Scrooge-like Boss of the Third Street Saints can’t muster enough Christmas spirit to save him. Can the Saints help the Boss discover the true meaning of the season in time? A holiday classic for the whole family.

Most owners of the Season Pass should already have this (Europe releases tomorrow). If you’re buying a la carte, you can pick it up on Steam, 360, and PSN now.

Happy holidays, everybody!

The first story/mission DLC pack for Saints Row IV is out today! (In most territories anyway. Tomorrow for the UK!) Introducing Enter the Dominatrix.

I was one of the writers on this pack and it was a blast. In addition to more crazy Saints Row antics, some old characters come back as well which gave me the opportunity to work with some voice actors I was eager to see in action.

I don’t want to say too much because there is some true madness on display here. But I will paste up the official blurb:

Enter the Dominatrix reveals the wild hijinx of the original vision of the canceled SR3 expansion. Steelport has been taken over by the Dominatrix and only the Saints can stop her from trapping everyone in a virtual prison! Includes behind-the-scenes commentary and the return of some fan-favorite characters.

So there you go. It’s out now for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 for $6.99.

Oh, and in case it’s not evident, it’s rated M for Mature.

Happy birthday, Saints Row IV! Congratulations to everyone at Volition. The hard work, long hours, numerous headaches, and putting up with the writing department really paid off!

Click here to buy!

Saints Row IV comes out on PC, PS3 and 360 Tuesday, August 20th (Friday, August 23rd in Europe) and I cannot wait for you all to play it. It’s been a labor of love at Volition. We’ve poured our hearts and souls into this game to give you the best open-world playground we could. I know that all sounds like I’m shilling but I am speaking not only as a writer on the game but a huge fan as well.

From reviews:

“Saints Row IV is a fantastic game, keeping up the series’ tradition of giving players a wide open world and the tools to go absolutely bonkers within it. It’s hilarious, it’s action-packed, and most of all, its fun to play.” — The Escapist – 5/5

“I highly recommend it – Volition’s latest is a non-stop cavalcade of self-aware meta-humor and surprising, bombastic gameplay decisions from stem to stern, and to enter the experience with even the slightest knowledge of what’s coming would be doing yourself a major disservice.” — Joystiq – 5/5

“I honestly haven’t enjoyed a game quite so thoroughly as Saints Row IV, nor laughed as hard at one. On that note, Saints Row IV has my vote of emphatic approval for doing what it does so well: making us laugh until we cry.” — Neoseeker – 10/10

“I declare Saints Row IV perhaps one of the best open world sandbox games you could ever hope to play, and practically a culmination of everything the genre’s worked toward this generation.” — Destructoid – 9.5/10

“Saints Row IV made me feel superhuman — and that’s what this kind of game is all about.” — Polygon 9/10

“Volition did something it seems few developers are brave enough to do at this point: They were willing to reinvent the Saints Row series instead of just reiterating on it. The result is a game that I had an absolute blast with from beginning to end, but also one that—due to the escalation it exhibits—left me dumbfounded on what they’ll offer as a follow-up.” — EGMNow – 9/10

And that’s just a sampling.

A huge thank you to everyone out there supporting Volition and Saints Row, and an enormous congratulations to everyone at Volition, my adopted home, for putting out such an amazing game. I am incredibly proud of what we put together.

(For those on the fence about pre-ordering, trust me when I saw the free Commander-in-Chief upgrade is totally worth it. You haven’t flown until you’ve taken control of the American Eagle Jet.)

Most of the time since my last update has been spent giving birth to Streets of Bedlam (which is out in PDF this Wednesday!) but some of it was spent pursuing a new job.

You may remember that I had to walk away from the last opportunity that came my way, and I am very happy to report this opportunity has no such hang-ups or hurdles.

Starting in two weeks, I’ll be working at Volition working on their incredible Saints Row franchise.

I am a huge fan of their latest release, Saints Row the Third, and am excited about what they have in store.

So in addition to getting Streets of Bedlam ready for release, I’ve been prepping a house for sale, packing up all my belongings, and getting ready to relocate to Illinois, all so my family and I can start a brand-new chapter of our lives.

I will Madison very much. It’s a great city with a fresh, optimistic spirit that will be hard to match. I don’t know if a long-term return to the area is in my future but I’d like to at least visit again.

I will miss the friends I’ve made in the area, especially Brett, Laronda, Matt, Monica, Other Matt, Bill, John, my new friends in the Alliterates, and extra-especially the very first friends I made in the area, Barb and Caz.

Life scatters us but friendship keeps us connected always. Here’s to seeing you all at conventions and gatherings in the future.

Well, this post turned out far less light-hearted than I intended but goodbyes have a way of doing that.

I don’t do the big move for a few more weeks but I doubt I’ll be able to post much in the mean time. Until then, be good. Here’s to the future.

I’ve been pretty silent on here. Initially, I was busy putting the final touches on Among the Missing for Little Fears Nightmare Edition and then jumping right into the tenth anniversary edition of the original Little Fears (which will be out soon). On top of all that, I had an absolutely fantastic opportunity come my way that has me really excited and reunites me with a great team on an amazing project (and I’m not just spouting hyperbole).

I’m very happy to announce I’ve rejoined Human Head Studios as the Writing Production Coordinator for the upcoming open-world first-person shooter PREY 2. I’m in charge of wrangling the narrative and working with the team to deliver a consistent, engaging experience. I worked at Human Head previously, and I was there for the last eighteen months of their developing the first PREY. Already knowing the studio and fiction, as well as being part of the revision team on the first title’s script, made sliding into this role very smooth.

The job is an absolute blast. I can’t wait for you all to see what this game has in store.

You can check out the PREY 2 portion of the Human Head Studios website here. I posted some official images and the launch trailer below (language and violence warning on the video).

(Linked from GiantBomb.com.)