Saros Is Housemarque’s Successor to Returnal, Arriving in 2026

Housemarque has announced Saros, its follow-up to 2022’s roguelite shooter Returnal. Starring Rahul Kohli, Saros is arriving in 2026 for PlayStation 5, and enhanced for PS5 Pro.

Revealed during today’s PlayStation State of Play, Saros certainly looks like a Housemarque game. As Arjun Devraj, a Solatri enforcer searching for answers on a dangerous, shifting planet haunted by an eclipse and at least one very large, powerful being, it certainly has the air of Returnal about it. The phrase “come back stronger” definitely makes one think of roguelikes, and the spread of fireballs evokes Housemarque’s bullet-hell tendencies.

Creative director Gregory Louden calls Saros the “ultimate evolution” of the Housemarque gameplay-first experience. It’s a new single-player IP, but builds on Returnal’s third-person action.

It’s not exactly the same thing all over again, though. Over on the PlayStation Blog, Louden said a key gameplay distinction between Saros and Returnal is in permanent resources and progression. The world changes upon the player’s death in Saros, but players will also be able to permanently upgrade their arsenal of weapons and suits.

More info is expected later this year, as Housemarque plans to show a first extended look at gameplay later this year.

For everything shown today during the PlayStation State of Play, be sure to check out our recap here.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.