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Resogun creators announce PlayStation 5 game, Returnal

Housemarque’s new game looks to be its biggest yet

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Ryan Gilliam (he/him) has worked at Polygon for nearly seven years. He primarily spends his time writing guides for massively popular games like Diablo 4 & Destiny 2.

At the PlayStation 5 reveal event, Housemarque announced its new game, Returnal. Based on the trailer, Returnal looks to be a sci-fi Rogue-like game.

In Returnal, you play as a space pilot stranded on a mysterious world. But each time she dies, she resurrects, somehow changed. Players will need to fight through this alien world, evolving as they go. Returnal is a third-person shooter with sci-fi weapons and mysterious, alien enemies.

Earlier this year, Housemarque announced it would postpone all work on its previously announced battle royale title for an unannounced partner, now revealed to be Sony. The studio’s previous arcade shooter, Resogun, launched alongside the PS4, and was free for all PlayStation Plus subscribers.

In 2017, following underwhelming sales of Nex Machina, Housemarque vowed to leave its usual games behind in a blog post with a provocative title, “arcade is dead.” Housemarque’s previous games, like Resogun and Super Stardust HD, defined the modern arcade game — but now the studio is going in a totally new direction for the next generation of video games.

Players should expect to learn more about Returnal over the summer.


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