Housemarque Built Saros’ Difficulty Around Returnal’s Failures

Housemarque has confirmed that the difficulty design in Saros directly responds to player feedback from Returnal. Many players didn’t finish the 2021 roguelike shooter, and the studio discussed this with Polygon. They explained that the completion data from Returnal influenced every accessibility choice for its new game.

Returnal launched in April 2021 at a price of $69.99 on PS5 and received an 86 on Metacritic. However, its harsh difficulty became a frequent complaint that overshadowed its otherwise strong reviews. The game’s roguelike setup lacked a traditional save system at launch. Players had to complete full runs in one sitting, which turned off a significant number of gamers until Sony introduced a suspend feature months later.

Saros, Housemarque’s upcoming title, is designed with a more gradual difficulty curve from the start. While the studio hasn’t entirely softened the core challenge—this is still a Housemarque game—it’s implementing systems intended to minimize the frustration that led many players to quit Returnal before finishing. IGN India described the result as “almost perfect” in their review, indicating that critics are responding positively to these changes.

Debate is already brewing about whether Saros can outshine its predecessor. Push Square conducted a community poll asking players if they think Saros is better than Returnal, highlighting the uncertainty about which game will be recognized as the studio’s defining work. Currently, Returnal’s Steam version holds an 80% positive rating from 7,597 reviews, a decent but imperfect score that points to the split opinions the original game sparked.

Returnal’s current Steam player count of just 93 concurrent users—fairly low for a $59.99 title from a major publisher—suggests that its difficulty likely affected its long-term audience retention. Housemarque hopes that by making Saros more accessible, they can attract a larger and more engaged player base without losing the intense gameplay that defines their style.

By The Numbers

Returnal Metacritic Score	86
Returnal Steam Rating	80% Positive
Total Steam Reviews	7,597
Current Steam Price	$59.99
Current Concurrent Players	93

Despite its tough reputation, community sentiment around Returnal remains warm. One Steam reviewer commented, “act 3 drags on, but other than that it’s a really good game,” specifically praising the Tower of Sisyphus DLC. This suggests that players who persevered through the hardest parts found enough reward to recommend it.

What To Watch

• Whether Saros’ adjusted difficulty curve leads to better completion rates than Returnal—data that Housemarque might eventually share to support their design changes.
• How Saros performs at launch and if a more approachable difficulty results in stronger sales and better player retention than its predecessor.
• Community feedback from Returnal’s core fanbase, who might resist if Saros feels too forgiving compared to the challenging design that made the original a cult classic.