Saros Announced As The Next Game From Returnal Devs

PlayStation’s State of Play closed out with a first-party game from Housemarque, the developers of 2021’s critically acclaimed Returnal. The next game is titled Saros and the announcement trailer was a brief two-minute cinematic. The rogue-like elements of Returnal appear be making a return in this new game, with the protagonist narrating: “After every death, I always come back stronger.” The final moments of the trailer revealed a 2026 release window, so it will likely be some time before we learn more.

Returnal devs next game, Saros, revealed at PlayStation State of Play

After the trailer, Gregory Louden, the Creative Director at Housemarque, spoke about the newly announced upcoming title. Louden said that “Saros is the ultimate evolution of the Housemarque gameplay-first experience. It’s a new single-player IP that builds on Returnal’s award-winning third-person action.” The first look at gameplay will be later this year, hopefully during Summer Game Fest, so we don’t have to wait until the end of the year.

The protagonist of Saros is Arjun Devraj, “a powerful enforcer searching for answers on a hostile, shape-shifting planet, haunted by an ominous eclipse.” For fans of Returnal’s bullet-hell action, this appears to be teased in a reflection of the protagonist’s eyes near the end of the trailer. A strange, many-armed being rises out of the water, holding some kind of orange energy in each hand, and likely sends it out in complex waves of attacks that must be dodged to survive.

More information is available via the PlayStation Blog, which explains that “a key gameplay distinction between Saros and Returnal is permanent resources and progression making every death valuable. After every death you will face a changed world, but in Saros you will be able to choose and permanently upgrade your loadout from an evolving set of weapons and suit upgrades to “come back stronger”…” This sounds like an exciting innovation that will take the already impressive action of Returnal to a new frontier of challenging and satisfying.

But there is still much we do not know about the newly announced Saros. We will have to be patient to learn more later this year and ultimately wait for a 2026 release.

Returnal

April 30, 2021

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