The new PlayStation 5 exclusive, Saros, developed by the Housemarque team at PlayStation Studios, doesn’t seem to have gotten off to the start the Finnish developers had hoped for following their previous game.
Saros, a third-person bullet-hell shooter developed by Housemarque at PlayStation Studios, was released on April 30. While it has been a hit with critics, the latest estimates from Alinea Analytics suggest that it hasn’t had a significant impact on sales. Alinea Analytics focused on the new first-party exclusive title for the PlayStation 5 and estimates that over 300,000 copies were sold on the PlayStation Store in the first two weeks. Based on these estimates, this translates to $22 million in gross revenue. From an operational standpoint, 300,000 copies likely fall far short of the sales target Sony set prior to the game’s release.
Alinea describes the game as having had a lukewarm launch because it appears to have failed to surpass its predecessor, Returnal, in terms of launch sales. The circumstances surrounding Returnal’s release are very different from those of Saros. At launch, Returnal was one of the few first-party PlayStation titles released for the PlayStation 5, despite having come out just a few months earlier. Furthermore, it was a brand-new franchise at the beginning of a new console generation. Excitement surrounding the renowned developer’s new game, combined with players’ desire for a next-gen experience after spending a lot of money on a brand-new console, ensured a strong launch for Returnal.
Saros arrived five years after Returnal, at a time when millions more PlayStation 5 consoles were in circulation. Although Housemarque was able to lure Returnal players back to its second PlayStation 5 game, it doesn’t seem to have attracted many new players, at least not at launch. Another factor is the competition Saros faces from recently released major titles, such as Pragmata, Crimson Desert, and Hades 2, which finally arrived on PlayStation and are taking up players’ time. The most concerning aspect of this slow start is that, according to Alinea Analytics, Housemarque will have a hard time recouping Saros’s development costs if the game doesn’t become more popular soon, as the development budget was reportedly $76 million.
While we can’t know for sure what it will mean for Housemarque if Saros takes a long time to turn a profit, hopefully it won’t suffer the same fate as Bluepoint Studios. One positive aspect of Saros is that it’s an incredibly solid game. Those who’ve played it find it extremely engaging, meaning player retention is strong. An estimated one-fifth of players have already completed the game.
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