You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Returnal developer Housemarque are deep in development of Saros, an upcoming cinematic action game starring Gears of War, Haunting of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass’ Rahul Kohli. With the studio’s new single-player game planned to release in 2026, the studio head Ilari Kuittinen and creative director Gregory Louden vowed to keep the studio away from live-service games. As live-service titles with battle passes and constant grinds become commonplace in the industry, Kuittinen and Louden explain that Housemarque will focus on single-player for as long as players are buying their games. Returnal devs won’t make live-service games Speaking to Eurogamer at the developer’s 30th anniversary event in Finland, the two Housemarque leads explained that they will keep making single player adventures for “as long as people are buying premium games”. Kuittinen described the studio’s cinematic single-player shift as something like a movie or TV series where players follow a “phase” of a person’s life. On the other side, live-service games require players to always stay dedicated to the game in order to not miss out. “Our philosophy is that [our games] are an experience for a certain time of your life, and you experience that within a few days, or weeks, or whatever,” they said. “And I believe that’s really cool. You don’t need to spend the rest of your free time with our games.” Kuittinen explained that Housemarque games are not something you “need to play it for the rest of your life”, but instead a “unique experience” that players can come back to if they want to. As long as the studio is providing something unique, fun and polished, that’s fine. “We are only as strong as our latest game,” added brand director Mikael Haveri, explaining that the team has not had an easy journey getting to where it is today. However, the Returnal developer is kept going by its continued mission to create “special games” that survive long into the future. Since its first release on the Atari ST in 1993, Housemarque has done just that—create special games. While the studio is known for its successes with Super Stardust, Nex Machina and Returnal, even the studio’s most obscure games like Dead Nation are unique. (We can’t speak about its Gizmondo Motorcross game though as we’ve never owned a Gizmondo.) Returnal Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5 Genre(s): Action, Shooter 9 VideoGamer Subscribe to our newsletters! By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime. Share