Housemarque and SIE Delay Returnal to April 30 For Extra Polish

You’ll Need to Wait Longer to Start Exploring

Returnal may not be the biggest of the upcoming PS5 line-up, but it’s undoubtedly among the most ambitious. The game puts players in the shoes of astronaut Selene, who finds herself locked in a time loop after crash-landing on a mysterious planet, resurrecting after each death to find the environment has changed. If she wants to escape, she’ll need to find a way to break the loop, facing everything the planet has to throw at her along the way.

The game looks like it’ll be taking advantage of the power of the PS5 but it’s important to remember that the technology is still new, and the team at Housemarque want to make sure the game looks great and plays well.

Update: Returnal has a new release date of April 30, 2021. SIE and Housemarque have made the decision to move the release date in order to give the team extra time to continue to polish the game to the level of quality players expect from Housemarque. 
 
See you in April! pic.twitter.com/xb6IBWJ5TQ

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) January 28, 2021

Sadly for players, it looks like things are going to take a little longer than anticipated, as the game’s being delayed a month to give it some extra polish. I know I say this every time, but if Cyberpunk 2077 has taught us anything it’s that if a game needs a little extra time, it should get it, especially if the alternative would be unhappy gamers sending death threats to people doing their jobs.

The thing is, Returnal is a roguelike game, meaning that the environments are randomized. Your adventure through the planet will see you going through different iterations, each one different than the last. This is a big feature, and it makes sense that the developers want to make a bit more time to make sure it works as well as they were expecting, especially since this will be the developer’s debut on the PS5.

We have a lot to look forward to with Returnal, and while it may not have the same levels of hype as, say, Cyberpunk 2077 did, it’s still a game that a lot of people are looking at, and if a month’s delay is all it takes to satisfy as many players as possible, so be it.

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