Saros launches April 30 on PS5

Housemarque's Saros hits the PlayStation 5 tomorrow, April 30, and it is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated PS5 exclusives of the year. The spiritual successor to Returnal launches globally at midnight ET across both Standard and Digital Deluxe editions.

Saros is a third-person roguelite built around bullet-hell combat, set on Carcosa, a shape-shifting alien planet caught under the shadow of a growing eclipse. Players take control of Arjun Devraj, a Soltari Enforcer voiced by Rahul Kohli, best known for Netflix's Midnight Mass. He arrives on the lost off-world colony on what begins as a rescue mission, but the story quickly takes on a darker tone.

The story unfolds through exploration, audio logs, and conversations with a full cast gathered in a hub area called the Passage.

How it builds on Returnal

The core combat loop will be familiar to anyone who played Returnal. Fast movement, dodge-heavy encounters, and waves of patterned projectiles are all here. What Saros changes is the structure around that combat.

A permanent progression system lets players carry upgrades forward across runs, softening Returnal's notorious difficulty without stripping out the tension. A new Soltari Shield lets Arjun absorb incoming projectiles and charge a Carcosan Power Weapon to fire back. There is also a one-time revive mechanic per run, another departure from Returnal's unforgiving format.

The world itself is larger. Saros ships with eight biomes and eight boss fights, compared to Returnal's five biomes and six bosses.

PS5 and PS5 Pro performance

The game targets 60 fps on both the base PS5 and PS5 Pro. On PS5 Pro, Housemarque upgraded to the latest version of Sony's PSSR2 upscaling, boosting the base render resolution before the upscaler takes over. The result, according to the developer, is an image that is difficult to distinguish from native 4K.

Cutscenes drop to 30 fps on both versions. Housemarque describes this as a deliberate push for quality in narrative moments, and there is no 120Hz performance mode. The game makes full use of the DualSense's adaptive triggers and 3D audio via the Tempest engine.

Saros is strictly a PS5 exclusive. Sony is stepping back from the multiplatform publishing approach it used for Returnal's PC port, so a Steam version is not confirmed. The file size is 83.5 GB, so preloading is recommended.

Digital Deluxe Edition owners ($79.99) have had access since April 28 via the 48-hour early access window. The Standard Edition is $69.99 and unlocks tomorrow at midnight ET. Three additional Enforcer armor sets come with the Deluxe Edition, themed around Returnal, God of War, and Ghost of Yotei. Saros is additionally available on Amazon.com.

For more on what is hitting mobile this week, alongside the PS5 launch, Brawl Stars kicked off its first anime collaboration with My Hero Academia on April 28.