‘Saros, ‘PlayStation’s First Big 2026 Exclusive, Gets Off To A Slow But Steady Start
by Julian Torres
SAROS (Image: Returnal)
Saros, the PlayStation 5 exclusive that released on April 30, has had a “slow but interesting” start, according to Alinea Analytics. In its first two weeks, the game sold over 300,000 copies and made over $22 million in revenue.
IGN gave the game a 7/10, with the verdict being, “Saros tries at an interesting and ambitious story, it isn’t always able to effectively tell, but Housemarque has once again proved that its bullet-hell sensibilities mesh incredibly well with fluid and challenging action.”
So what does this mean in the grand scheme of things?
While Saros is selling slower than studio Housemarque’s previous game, Returnal, Alinea Analytics offers some perspective on the matter.
Analyst Rhys Elliott notes that Returnal dropped in April 2021, less than six months after the PS5 launch. “Those early PS5 adopters (the ones who inherently buy a lot of new games at full price) were dying for something to play.”
Comparatively, Saros had to compete with the PS5 game landscape in 2026, going up against titles like Pragmata, Crimson Desert, Resident Evil Requiem and Hades 2. That is not even mentioning the PS5’s extensive backlog of the past few years.
Elliott said, “It really is a shame, as Saros is a fantastic game and frankly deserves better numbers than this. But 3D bullet-hell-type games, especially those with a $70+ price tag, are a tough sell in today’s market. Particularly without a big IP behind it, or a studio that’s recognized outside of the PlayStation hardcore. But there’s plenty to love about Saros. I’m loving it, and so are many others. It’s also already sold more copies than Marathon on PS5, so there’s that.”
However, Saros appears to be consistently successful with those who have already bought the game. According to Elliot, “Saros launched with around 43,000 daily players on its early-access day (29 April), then jumped to 83,000 on its full-launch day (30 April), and peaked at almost 142,000 on May 2. The post-launch curve has held up well, too, with DAUs settling into a 115-140,000 range across the first 10 days, only dipping below 100,000 once (May 11, at 96,000).”
The fanbase that did show up “is playing the hell out of it. That’s the audience that recommends games to friends, drives organic word-of-mouth, and converts at higher rates when the game eventually goes on sale or hits PS Plus.”
Saros set out to be more accessible than Returnal by enabling auto-saves and offering multiple save slots. By May 12, over 20% of Saros players have finished the game, which is double Returnal‘s completion rate at that point.
While Elliott writes that Saros may struggle to break even, he also counterpoints, “exclusives sell consoles, and then inertia from previous generations does the rest, and the real PlayStation money is made on third-party launches and legacy third-party live services. Plenty of core PlayStation players have picked up Saros, which is the underlying job an exclusive is meant to do.”
Much of the story of Saros will be written in the next few weeks.
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