PS5 exclusive Returnal delayed to end of April
For extra polish.
Returnal is delayed to 30th April 2021, Sony has announced.
Housemarque's PlayStation 5-exclusive was due out 19th March.
In a tweet, Sony said the delay will give the developers more time to polish the game.
"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," Sony said.
Housemarque is trying something a bit different with Returnal. While the Finnish studio's earlier output favoured small but pristinely formed arcade experiences - think Resogun and Nex Machina - this time, the developer is going in a decidedly more blockbuster direction.
Returnal, which was unveiled back in June 2020, blends third-person action and platform elements with a great big dollop of moody narrative to create a game Housemarque calls its "most ambitious project to date".
The resulting adventure unfolds on the very edge of the galaxy, with players taking on the role of Selene, an Astra space scout who finds herself trapped in a hellish loop of endless resurrection while stranded on a deadly planet.
It's something of a roguelike then, and the ensuing action promises "volleys of bullet-hell projectiles along the way" (clearly Housemarque isn't entirely ready to wave goodbye to its arcade roots just yet), with players able to respond using an arsenal of weapons armed with rechargeable alt-fire modes activated by half-pressing the PS5 controller's adaptive triggers.
