Have you ever had that feeling while playing a game that you knew wasn’t perfect, but it felt just right in your heart? Whose story left you confounded, wondering aloud, “That’s it?” and feeling frustrated only because you wanted more – something, anything to keep you coming back besides the fantastic gameplay? One that you knew not everyone would like, and would even criticize online for any myriad of reasons, simply because it didn’t fit into the typical mold of what a rogue-lite should be?
Not to belabor a point after doing just that, but after playing Saros, I do. Housemarque’s latest game is a bullet-hell third-person shooter with excessive cosmic horror-inspired sights and sounds. Third-highest rated game of the year on Opencritic – you’ve probably heard of it. I’ve gone back to it several times, even after finishing my review, to gather more information for our tips and tricks, and every time, I’m still left astounded by the controls, responsiveness, gunplay, and the sheer number of new sections that keep popping up during new runs.
Which is funny because I had those exact thoughts with Returnal back in 2021. You know what else I thought at the time? There’s no way this gets a sequel, and that was without knowing any sales numbers (and keep in mind that it was also one of the more highly rated games of that year). Ironic as it sounds, here we are almost five years later, and it indeed got a sequel – one that’s bigger, better, and more intense in all the right ways. And yet, there’s concern over the future.
Back in December 2023, that unfortunate Insomniac Games ransomware leak revealed some rather interesting figures about PlayStation’s many IPs. It pretty much confirmed that Bloodborne sold millions, and there was no excuse not to remake or remaster it (and boy, does that come full circle later on). It also proved that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was profitable, but nowhere near the same vicinity as the Marvel’s Spider-Man series – who could have guessed? And then, for those who bothered checking, was the little detail that Returnal had shipped over a million units as of February 2022 and sold through about 866,000 units.
Naturally, we don’t know the latest figures, and the likelihood of Sony sharing them is about as high as Fairgame$ not getting cancelled. But it reinforces, without a shadow of a doubt, that as beloved as Returnal was, it’s a niche game by triple-A standards.
Snap back to the present day with Saros, which is far more triple-A facing by comparison. There’s a heavier story focus with more cinematic cutscenes. Quality of life features like suspending a run or fast traveling back to The Passage after clearing a biome offered more freedom for how long you wanted to keep playing. Even the difficulty, a major aspect of Returnal that many considered an obstacle to a wider audience, was much more freeform.
Now, you could easily decide whether you wanted to deal loads more damage, make it so that enemies barely tickled you, negate any of the Corruption or bad effects from Artifacts – heck, for all its horror, Saros felt like a day at the spa compared to Returnal tossing you into the deep end. And while having this kind of customizable difficulty is great, especially for bullet hell fiends like me who want something far more challenging, it’s hard not to think that this was done because of how niche Returnal ended up being.
You don’t have to take my word for it, though. Creative director Gregory Louden and associate design director Matti Häkli told Polygon in a recent interview that they wanted to “enable more people to enjoy these games.” It’s not seeking to reduce the challenge or introduce arbitrary difficulty modes that players may not fully agree on. You set the challenge, you dictate the difficulty, and you decide whether to sink or swim. And I can appreciate that.
The question is: Will that translate to sales? If we assume the current reports that Returnal ultimately sold two million copies are correct, then all in all, it’s not a bad milestone, especially since the shooter retailed for $70. A new IP that’s as niche as can be, that too with a difficulty level which automatically limits its potential audience – all in all, pretty good for an independent developer.
But in 2026, Housemarque is in a different boat altogether. Saros is a far bigger game with more biomes and more money spent on a larger cast, not to mention those shiny cinematics. Assuming it’s been in the works since 2022, a year after Returnal’s launch, that’s a pretty significant amount of development costs. Unfortunately, it’s not a question about breaking even or turning a profit, but whether this will appease the executives at Sony, especially since they own the studio. The same PlayStation Studios which saw numerous layoffs and cancellations in recent years, mostly for its live service initiative, but still. If it can get rid of a prestige studio like Bluepoint, then who’s to say it won’t turn to Housemarque next?
Of course, one shouldn’t assume the worst immediately. We don’t know precisely how much Saros cost to make, how much it’s sold and, more importantly, what Sony’s expectations are. After backing away from its live service push and recommitting to high-profile single-player games, both to players and shareholders, having something like this that’s so acclaimed is a point in its favor. Not just for the current generation but for the future as well, as it builds up a marquee line-up of PlayStation console exclusives (especially if rumors about first-party single-player games no longer launching on PC end up true).
There’s also that whole discussion about how it couldn’t find any projects suitable for Bluepoint, thus leading to its closure, but I digress. It’s important that Sony had enough confidence in Saros to release it – and lend a decent amount of marketing, though nowhere near as much as its bigger titles – but that doesn’t guarantee any kind of security for the future.
And that’s really the crux of the matter and why it can be so frustrating to be a fan of any game these days. As good as something is, as beloved as it is, the industry is on such shaky ground that it may not be successful. And even if it is successful, there’s no guarantee that the studio will escape layoffs. And even if it isn’t shuttered, it could very well exist in limbo, trying its best to hang on and fruitlessly pitching projects that either aren’t approved or end up cancelled mid-development.
So while Saros is great, and there’s much cause for celebration, especially for PS5 players who desperately want something new to play, there are always going to be concerns about the future. Maybe time is a flat circle, and I’m just going through the same motions as with Returnal, only being proven wrong when the inevitable follow-up is announced, happy that Housemarque has another chance to showcase its single-player prowess. But if the games industry has proven anything in recent years, it’s that nothing is forever, and you only get so many chances before your luck inevitably runs out.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
