THQ has scrapped plans to release the Enter the Dominatrix DLC for Saints Row: The Third, instead opting to enhance the content and release it as a standalone game in 2013.

Developer Volition is incorporating the DLC code into this new title which is being referred to as “The Next Great Sequel in the Saints Row Franchise.” This new game is due to release sometime after April 2013. THQ has revealed that it will lose around $20 million in sales from the scrapped DLC, although it expects to make far more in the next fiscal year thanks to this new release.

THQ’s new company president, Jason Rubin, made the bold decision. ”When I looked at the Enter the Dominatrix expansion in production at Volition, I was blown away by the ideas and desire to expand the fiction of the franchise,” he said. ”I asked the team what it could achieve given more time, more resources, and a broader scope for the project. We all agreed we wanted to play that game. When it comes to Saints Row, it’s clear our fans want bigger, better, and even more over the top, and that’s why Enter the Dominatrix will now be incorporated into a vastly expanded, full-fledged sequel, scheduled for calendar 2013.”

“We believe the potential for this sequel is far greater as a full-priced, full-length, high quality, connected experience,” he added.

This is a really smart move by THQ. Fans have been looking forward to news of a sequel for the last few months, but nobody expected it to release by next year. Of course this won’t be Saints Row 4, there simply isn’t time to improve the game enough to claim that, however I expect it to be similar to GTA Vice City and San Andreas, not pure sequels, but standalone games in their own right. The major question mark is whether the Enter the Dominatrix story can be stretched to fill an entire game while retaining its entertainment value.

Is this a good move by THQ? Are you looking forward to the game?