Housemarque

History

Founded in 1995, this Finnish-based developer has released many games exclusively on PlayStation, including Super Stardust and Resogun. In fact, the last time they released a game on Xbox or 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 Housemarque's best selling game at 560k copies sold in 3 months and Sony acquiring them shortly after.

Housemarque continued to support Returnal with a PC version and co-op mode before announcing their next game, Saros, via a CG trailer in February 2025 and a gameplay reveal in September. Saros plays very similar to Returnal, except it's 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, which should result in even higher sales.

Housemarque is easily one of the bright spots for PS Studios this generation, especially as they were acquired during Sony's live-service push. Thankfully, they weren't caught up in that - making them one of the few PS Studios currently worth watching. Saros also ships in April 2026, so there's not long to wait. Though it's likely the last Housemarque title on PS5.

Saros Concept Art

PS5 Games