There will be drop-in cooperative multiplayer with a second player, with each player having their own Boss character and progressing in their own missions while helping the hosting player. The game will include a detailed character creator for the player-character, including selection of gender. The driving gameplay has been improved to encourage the use of vehicles as weapons themselves alongside guns. The new city will include more vertical areas with tools that the player will be able to use to take advantage of that. New to this game, the player will be able to use empty lots in secured districts to launch illegitimate businesses with legitimate fronts to help finance and benefit the gang.

As in past Saints Row games, the player will work to take over these districts, granting them certain benefits. The city is broken down into nine districts, which include Rancho Providencio, a run-down rural town El Dorado, a gambling casino haven comparable to Las Vegas and Monte Vista, a suburban area. These new members include: Neenah, a mechanic formally with Los Panteros and serves as the gang's driver Kevin, a DJ that was part of the Idols and handles the execution of their heists and Eli, a business entrepreneur that had joined with Marshall and now plans the Boss's gang's activities. The player-character, 'The Boss', assembles a new gang from dissatisfied members of these gangs and to seize power from them. Santo Ileso is currently under control of three criminal gangs: Los Panteros, a gritty vehicle and fitness-oriented gang the Idols, an anarchist gang focused on clubs and nightlife and Marshall Defense Industries, an international private military corporation based in Santo Ileso that provides security for the city. Saints Row is set in the fictional city of Santo Ileso, based in the American southwest.

Saint row 3 gangs