How to make money in Saints Row quickly and easily — or die trying
Make some cash
After a nine-year hiatus Saints Row is finally back with a reboot, but the basics of the series still remain the same. As you might expect, money is everything in Saints Row as you use it to purchase perks, upgrade weapons, place new ventures, and more. Money really does make the world go round in Saints Row, so we’ve put together a few tips for what you’ll want to focus on while creating your criminal empire.
Focus on Criminal Ventures and “Threats”
Your absolute best method of making money in Saints Row is going to be through Criminal Ventures, which you unlock shortly after the Saints make their base in the church. It’s a good idea to simply play through story missions until you unlock this option, as placing Criminal Ventures will start giving you hourly income, meaning you literally make money while you do the rest of the side content.
Criminal Ventures are unlocked once you gain control of the church.
By going to the Empire board at your base you can viewt the entire Criminal Ventures map, however, placing a new venture costs money. The first ones cost $30,000 and the price continues to go up with the last three each costing $1.6 million to place. Your money should absolutely be spent first on investing in ventures though, as not only do they give you passive income, but new missions that can unlock vehicles, weapons, clothing, etc, and also provide you with money and XP.
After you place a venture, your focus should then shift to looking for “Threats,” which appear as red brass knuckle icons on your map. When you place a venture five of these will appear in the district, and completing each one will boost the amount of income you get from that district per hour. Threats are usually quick affairs that have you defeating a group of enemies or finding a hidden police van.
The more time you spend improving your districts the more money you’ll make, so always focused on Ventures first so you’ll get that sweet income while you do other content.
Play story missions
Main missions also hold some of Saints Row’s best gameplay segments.
Side missions typically provide more money than main missions, but there are a few exceptions. It’s a good idea to progress the story every once in a while as some missions, particularly ones that involve stealing, will give you a huge boost in cash. About midway through there’s a mission that gives you $150,000 and after that almost every other mission will reward you with roughly $20K. If you find yourself needing some extra cash for Ventures or weapons, just knock out a couple of main missions and you should have enough.
Use the Wanted app
Wanted app missions are a very quick way to earn extra money.
The Wanted app is a great way to earn a little extra cash, especially in the early game. Each Wanted mission will make you head to a dead drop location, then kill the target that you’ve picked. You’ll have access to Wanted from almost the very start of the game, and these are usually low-lift missions that can be completed in 10-20 minutes, and give you $5000 as a reward. Simply bring up the main menu, select “Wanted,” then choose the mission you want. Wanted missions become a bit obsolete for money-making later in the game, but they are fun missions that have some interesting twists.
Saints Row is currently available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
