The Saints Row games do not officially support modding - although that's hardly stopped fans from cracking them open and making them the hard way. Well, things are about to get a whole lot easier thanks to developer Volition, who are giving their support to the modding community by proving a package containing "documentation, file formats, tools, and more", which will go towards creating "what is essentially a full sdk" for Saints Row: The Third. Even more exciting is the suggestion that this is a "test run" for a similar set of tools for the upcoming Saints Row IV .

Given how few developers throw their weight behind mod tools these days, this is an excellent turn of events, even if Volition aren't putting together something official. Here's idolninja explaining the situation:

"Jeff Thompson, the Studio Director of Programming at Volition, is putting together a package for us containing documentation, file formats, tools, and more on the Saints Row: The Third engine. Myself, Minimaul, and gibbed will be working closely with Jeff over the coming months to use this information to create a robust set of modding tools to supplement our existing ones and creating what is essentially a full sdk for the game! But, that's not all! Saints Row: The Third is only the beginning! Jeff has confirmed that he will also be digging up all the Saints Row 2 info that he can so we can do the same for it as well, and that this undertaking is actually a “test run” for Saints Row IV.

"So, what does this actually mean to the average Saints Row player? In simple terms, the modding community will finally be able to create and offer new clothing, new vehicles, new guns, new npcs, new missions, and even new world geometry which will greatly extend the life of the series and enhance the Saints Row games in ways we never even dared to dream of."

It's hard to imagine what mods could possibly add to Saints Row 4, given that it already features superpowers, Inflate-O-Rays and a dubstep gun. But I'm looking forward to finding out.

Thanks, Blues News !