Saints Row: The Third preorders 4x Saints Row 2's

The third Saints Row still has two weeks of potential preorders left, but it's already the number one most preordered game in the franchise's history.

In a quarterly earnings conference call today, THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell revealed that Saints Row: The Third currently has four times the preorders Saints Row 2 had at the comparable period two weeks out from its release.

While Saints Row: The Third is quadrupling the preorder pace of its predecessor, THQ isn't expecting it to quadruple sales right off the bat. Farrell stated that THQ expects to ship more than 3 million copies of Saints Row: The Third before the March 2012 end of the publisher's fiscal year. Saints Row 2 launched in October of 2009 and sold 2.6 million units through the following March.

Developed by Illinois-based Volition, Saints Row: The Third picks up with the player running the Third Street Saints. Once a small-town gang, the Saints have grown to control the organized crime within Stilwater and even have their own brand, with licensed sneakers, energy drinks, and bobbleheads. However, the Saints' success has drawn the attention of the globally powerful Syndicate, a criminal fraternity that insists on a cut of the action. Players will adopt the role of a member of the Saints who must relocate to the Syndicate's hometown of Steelport after a botched bank robbery forces them to flee Stilwater.

For more on Volition's open-world crime game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Saints Row: The Third.