Returnal developer, Housemarque, reportedly working on new title set to be PlayStation exclusive

Housemarque, the creators of Returnal, have begun production on their next game, which will be a PlayStation exclusive. Gregory Louden, Harry Krueger, and Ilari Kuittinen of Housemarque spoke with VentureBeat at the recent DICE Summit 2022 about the obstacles of making the above game, which shifted from arcade thrills to a AAA third-person shooter.

A third-person sci-fi shooter for the PlayStation 5, the title was the Finnish studio’s biggest and most ambitious project to date, following two decades of 2D arcade shooters, including Super Stardust HD and Resogun.

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Housemarque’s next game not a Returnal sequel

Housemarque was bought by Sony Interactive Entertainment two months after Returnal’s debut, and the company is now focusing on boosting its live service game output. According to VGC, Ilari Kuittinen was questioned by VentureBeat whether Housemarque is interested in producing live service games and how studios can maintain their identity while the games business landscape evolves around them.

He responded:

“Well, the jury is still out there. We’re one of the very last dinosaurs making arcade games. Nex Machina, a few years ago, was very much a shoot-’em-up game in the style of the coin-ops from the ’80s. That’s sort of a clue.”

Ilari added that they are now focusing on the new title:

“But it’s interesting. We’ve been thinking about that. We had our stint working on multiplayer games because a few years back, it seemed like you needed to have some kind of multiplayer experience. We tried that, and we really didn’t do it as well. But it’s early days with us starting a new game, a new IP, concepting it out. We’ll see what comes with that.”

Currently, there are no details about what Housemarque may be working on. However, the above statements hint that the next game will not be a sequel to Returnal.

As self-proclaimed “dinosaurs,” the crew is keen to stick to their arcade game roots, and fans don’t see Sony dragging them away to work on something new.

Returnal is one of the first PlayStation 5 exclusives, and it was released in April 2021 to widespread acclaim. Housemarque was praised for combining the developer’s experience in arcade shooters with a novel third-person shooter style and a fun roguelike game structure.

Last year, a game’s update added a new “Suspend Cycle” function that allows users to stop between sessions. There was also a picture mode included.