THQ announces Saints Row: The Third for late 2011

THQ's announced the third installment in the Saints Row series, known as Saints Row: The Third, for a late 2011 release.

The publisher's confirmed a holiday 2011 launch for PS3, 360 and PC.

The sequel sees the 3rd Street Saints become more of a household name than a gang. Now, though, another group, known as the Syndicate, wants tribute and respect from 3rd Street. Refusing to do so, the two end up going to war.

SR: The Third is in development at Volition. Obviously, Mr Bilson's excited.

"Saints Row: The Third puts you on top of the world, right at the beginning of the game, with all the perks that go along with being the head of an elite criminal organization," said THQ's core games boss.

"There’s no delivering pizza, no shuttling family members about in a long series of taxi missions. Instead, you take all the power of the Third Street Saints and you take the world by storm."

The game will be on the next front cover of Game Informer in its April issue.

The images of the game that appeared earlier this month have also been confirmed, with it being one of the covers for the magazine.