Housemarque

History

Founded in 1995, this Finnish-based developer has released many games exclusively on PlayStation, including Super Stardust and Resogun. In fact, that last time they released a game on Xbox/Nintendo was 2011's Outland.

So far, Housemarque has only released 2021's Returnal on PS5. It kept the roguelike/arcade DNA seen in their previous games, but moved to third-person with more focus on story. This gave Returnal more mainstream appeal, resulting in it becoming their best selling game at 560k copies sold in 3 months and Sony acquiring them very shortly after.

Housemarque continued to support Returnal with a PC version and a new co-op mode before announcing their next game, Saros, in February 2025 via a CG trailer. Saros will play very similar to Returnal, except this time, it will be a roguelite instead of a roguelike.

My Analysis & Predictions

With Returnal, Housemarque proved they could repackage the arcade DNA of their older/smaller games into a AAA mainstream title. Saros being a roguelite also furthers its mainstream appeal on a much larger 2026 PS5 install base, resulting in even higher sales.

Housemarque are easily one of the bright spots for PS Studios this generation, especially as they were acquired during the frenzy when Sony were laser focused on live-service. Thankfully, they weren't get caught up in that. Saros also ships in 2026 meaning we should see more very soon. Housemarque are therefore one of the few PS Studios worth watching currently.

Saros Concept Art

PS5 Games