According to the LinkedIn resume of one Mr. Scott Rogers, "Creative Manager for THQ's CORE games, CORE Digital Games Group and Kids and Family Groups," the downloadable Saint's Row spinoff, Saint's Row Drive-By, has been cancelled. The project was first obtusely revealed when THQ Core Games chief Danny Bilson said the 3DS-bound Saint's Row title was already being made for Xbox Live.

Later Bilson said, "We actually changed the design and are doing something more unique. This is just creative but we wound up feeling the game we were building was too much like a section of Saint's Row that you could play in Saint's Row." We're not so sure that canceling a game is the best way to make it more unique - that's old territory.

At GDC 2010, Bilson first revealed to Joystiq that THQ would develop downloadable games from its stable of "Core" brands, including Red Faction and Saint's Row. In advance of Red Faction: Armageddon's early June launch, THQ released the underwhelming Red Faction: Battlegrounds on XBLA and PSN. Following a string of negative reviews - including our own 2/5 - a THQ rep called the reception a "disappointment." If Saint's Row Drive-By was shaping up to be cut from the same cloth, a cancellation may have been a wise move.

We've reached out to THQ for an official comment on the status of Drive-By and Saint's Row 3DS.