Feature: ‘This Feels Like Nothing Else Out There’: Saros Devs on Making Another Standout PS5 Exclusive

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Saros is the newest game from Housemarque, a Finnish developer with a history of creating excellent games over many years.

We’re big fans of this sequel to Returnal! It improves on the original in fantastic ways, making the exciting gameplay easier to jump into.

With the game finally about to drop, I got a chance to chat with Gregory Louden, the creative director, and Simone Silvestri, the art director. We talked all about Saros – what it’s about and what the team was thinking while they were making it. It was really interesting to get their perspective!

I was really curious to hear how Gregory’s film experience shaped Saros. Apparently, he’s worked a lot with technical effects in movies and games, so Push Square asked him how that background influenced his work on the game. It’s interesting to think about how skills transfer between those two mediums!

I began my career as a programmer, studying computer science in school. Later, I moved into 3D art, animation, and visual effects. I eventually had the opportunity to learn level design and then narrative design, which I really enjoyed.

Overall, this experience has given me a broad skillset. I’ve gained experience in many aspects of game development, and I’m also bringing knowledge from my work in film and different project management approaches.

Films and games are very different. Working on films helped me learn how everything is made, and now, as a creative director, I share those insights with my team.

Something I really learned moving from film to feature animation was all about maintaining high quality, strong leadership, and how to effectively get things done. It really changed my perspective on what it takes to deliver a great project.

I’m really proud of the work I’ve done on all my projects. Looking back, it’s amazing to see everything I’ve been involved in. I’m especially proud of Saros – both the game itself and the team behind it. I think it’s as good as, or even better than, my previous work.

That’s a great question, Simone. You taught environment art for several years before joining Housemarque. I’m curious – what did teaching that subject reveal to you about it, and how did those lessons influence your work on Saros?

Simone Silvestri grew up in Rome, Italy, where there aren’t many game development opportunities. After working with indie studios there and then moving to Remedy and Housemarque, he was keen to support the Italian game development community. He chose teaching as a way to do that.

I returned to teach at my old school after fifteen years. It used to be quite informal, but it’s much better structured now. It’s great to have a hand in shaping the curriculum, and the class sizes have grown significantly – when I was a student there, classes had around seven people, but now I’m teaching groups of twenty, twenty-five, or even thirty. It’s been a really rewarding experience.

I truly enjoy teaching. It’s a rewarding experience – while I’m helping students learn, I’m also constantly learning from them and gaining new perspectives. It really helps me to clarify and improve my own understanding of things.

I was trying to explain that environment art isn’t just about how a space looks; it’s the foundation that all the other creative areas – like animation and sound design – build upon.

As an environment artist, I’ve learned that it’s way more than just making things look pretty. You really have to get how the level is designed – how players will move through it. And you’ve gotta understand the story the game is trying to tell, because the environment is a huge part of that! I’m basically telling that story through the look and feel of the spaces I create – everything from how things are arranged to the shapes and details I choose. It’s all about making the environment feel like it belongs in the game’s world.

Honestly, the most important thing I try to get across when people are building worlds is that it needs a story. It’s not enough to just make something that looks real. There needs to be a narrative! I want to look at what you’ve made and immediately wonder what’s going on, you know? I need to be curious and have questions.

One of the key things I brought to Housemarque was the ability to understand the story and setting, and then reflect that directly in the game’s world. We did this a lot with Saros, designing everything – its shapes and overall look – to represent Arjun’s emotional journey and the culture of Carcosa. This approach allowed us to build personality into the environment itself. I really developed this skill while I was teaching.

What did we learn from developing Returnal that helped us create Saros? What were the most important takeaways and how did we apply them?

We really wanted to capitalize on what we did well. We were proud of Returnal – especially the controls, how we told the story, and the overall mood. Our goal was simply to improve on that foundation and make something even better.

Returnal has a dedicated fanbase, and it’s great to see new players discovering and enjoying it still. We wanted to capitalize on that positive reception and build something even better.

We also wanted to reach a wider audience and get more people interested in Housemarque games. For many players, Saros will be their first experience with our work.

From the start, we focused on the idea of rewarding players for improvement – how could we make Saros feel empowering? We wanted Returnal to be a unique experience, but also more accessible. Our goal was to find ways for a wider range of players to progress and overcome the game’s challenges.

That’s how we came up with the idea of consistent progression – keeping the game challenging without making it easier. Saros remains difficult, but players can improve their abilities. A key part of this was adding modifiers, which really enhanced the experience.

We’re aiming to make the game challenging, but we know not everyone wants the same level of difficulty. That’s why players will be able to customize how hard it is for themselves. You can make it even tougher if you like, or make Saros a little easier to handle, tailoring the experience to your preference.

We aimed to build on what worked well in Returnal – creating a fresh story and visual style – while also making it easier for new players to discover and enjoy our games. We hope that after experiencing Saros, people will be inspired to explore our entire back catalog and appreciate everything we’ve created.

It’s a challenge to find the right balance: we want to offer something challenging, but also make it easy for people to participate, even if they need extra support.

Louden: It was always about not diluting the challenge and just providing more tools.

For instance, the Second Chance feature helps you stay engaged and overcome obstacles. We’re not making the game easier, but offering alternative ways to tackle difficult situations.

The Armour Matrix offers players opportunities to improve their abilities. Some will progress through the initial area quickly, while others will need to unlock upgrades first. We’re simply offering different options to overcome these challenges. Finally, the game also includes modifiers that add further variety.

We’re creating an action game that’s meant to be both difficult and enjoyable. We didn’t want just a hard game – we wanted something that would really draw players in. So, we focused on finding a balance: keeping the challenge while also making the game accessible to a wider audience.

Silvestri: When we talk about difficulty, we like to reframe it as friction most of the time.

Returnal taught us that the game had two distinct challenges. First, there was the fast-paced, moment-to-moment skill required for movement and combat. Second, completing the game also demanded a huge time commitment – players often spent two to four hours in a single run trying to succeed.

We realized that part wasn’t helpful because our goal is for you to stay focused and move quickly. We want you to embrace challenges and even enjoy working through them.

Teleporting to different areas keeps you quickly back in the gameplay, helping you learn how to thrive under pressure. The game is most enjoyable when you master this fast-paced, reactive style of play.

We’re providing tools like the Armour Matrix, and even more importantly, ways to adjust them so you feel comfortable playing. You can always turn these adjustments off later once you get the hang of things. Our goal is for you to have fun with the game right from the start.

We’ll help you learn to dance, and then you can relax and enjoy the moment, rather than feeling overwhelmed. Let’s focus on having fun instead of treating it like a long, exhausting race.

You’re still able to travel through all the different areas in order, but it’s not required – it’s more of a preference than a rule.

Housemarque has always focused on fun gameplay, so it’s interesting to see you putting more emphasis on story now. Saros seems to take storytelling even further than Returnal did. How do you think a strong narrative enhances a game that’s traditionally arcade-style?

As a huge fan of Housemarque, it was amazing to hear Louden talk about how he and Eevi Korhonen were the first people brought in to really focus on the story. Apparently, a lot of the team were thrilled, saying they were so happy to finally be able to tell a compelling narrative with their games. It felt like a really important step for them!

Just as we’re working to improve how things are controlled and how they look, we also want to create more compelling narratives.

After creating Saros, we decided to expand the story by adding more characters and perspectives. It felt like a natural next step after successfully developing the first character.

At Housemarque, we always prioritize gameplay – it’s a core part of our identity. While we’ve been adding more story elements, we want players to choose whether or not they engage with them; it’s entirely optional.

It’s up to you whether you want to collect the audio logs. You’re also free to explore the Passage and appreciate the details of the environment, or simply enjoy the music and think about its meaning.

We aim to create a completely immersive experience, a feeling of being lost in the world of Carcosa. The goal is for players to connect with the character Arjun so deeply that the controls fade away, and they simply move and act as one with him.

We see this as a natural step in improving our craft – constantly striving to learn, grow, and make even better games. Our top priority has always been, and will continue to be, fun and engaging gameplay.

I’m curious about the roguelike elements in Returnal and Saros. What specifically attracts Housemarque to using that game structure?

Louden believes they’re moving beyond the traditional definition of a roguelike game, and are now making something truly unique.

Honestly, we’re calling this game’s world a ‘shape-shifting planet’ because that’s the best way to describe it. We’re throwing in so many different systems and elements that it’s starting to feel like a completely unique entity, almost like it has a life of its own. It’s really evolving as we build it!

The game blends elements of roguelikes with third-person shooter action – we call it ‘bullet ballet.’ It’s a challenging game to categorize, and honestly, that’s something I really enjoy about working on Saros. It’s uniquely difficult to define, and I think that’s a good thing.

As a fan, I honestly think if you’re looking for something truly fresh and unique, nothing really compares to Returnal. But what I’ve noticed with both games is that they really focus on giving you a reason to play them again and again – that replayability is key!

We’re designing the game to avoid repetitive loops where players replay the same content after each death. The game world will evolve, and we’re focusing on making sure players feel rewarded and motivated as they progress, with a changing story each time.

So hence the “come back stronger”, and us rewarding you to continue to upgrade yourself.

As a fan, what I’m really excited about is how much depth they’re putting into this! It’s not just about having a good time once – they want it to be something you can keep enjoying over and over again, with new surprises each time you explore the world. It sounds like there’s a lot to discover and that replayability is a huge focus, which is awesome!

You can gradually uncover the full story, peeling back layers to reveal the truth. As you play, you’ll naturally improve your skills – learning the controls, understanding how adrenaline works, and becoming proficient at techniques like parrying.

Silvestri: I think the core fundamental is that replayability aspect.

I especially like how the game makes you think creatively about the world’s rules. It constantly asks questions like, why is everything changing, and why do characters respawn?

It instantly makes your story and world feel more engaging. You can definitely create compelling, straightforward campaigns. But for me, the really exciting part is that Saros’ world is so unusual. It gives us a chance to create something truly unique, to really explore the environments, and to build on the idea of eclipses being connected to a power that can constantly alter the world.

It’s a fascinating challenge – this framework both expands and limits creative possibilities. That’s exactly the kind of space I enjoy as an art director. I’m drawn to unusual ideas, and these structural constraints often inspire unique solutions.

I agree with Greg – I’m not sure we can even call our game a roguelike anymore. We’re really doing our own thing, and I hope people start referring to games like ours as ‘Returnal-likes’ because we’re quite different from traditional roguelikes. When I play a typical roguelike, it feels very different from what we’ve created. Ultimately, we’re focused on making the game highly replayable, and it’s also really exciting to be creatively challenged by the design constraints.

Looking at the high-budget gaming landscape, Housemarque’s games are quite unique compared to others with similar production values. There aren’t many development studios of their size creating experiences like theirs. What do you think accounts for this?

We really wanted to forge our own path with the game. When developing it, we looked to Returnal as our main inspiration, and the creators of Returnal themselves were heavily influenced by Nex Machina.

I think what really defines us is that we’re always building on what we’ve done before. We definitely take inspiration from other games, movies, books, and anime – tons of great stuff out there! But at the end of the day, gameplay is king for us, and we’re focused on pushing forward with what makes our games unique.

Like Simone mentioned, people often enjoy pushing their limits. We’re designing games that are both difficult and satisfying, and players are eager to take on bigger challenges, be more adventurous, and explore new experiences.

We’re driven to keep pushing boundaries and make games that feel uniquely like Housemarque games. We want to create experiences you can’t find anywhere else, and we take a lot of pride in that distinct identity.

Housemarque doesn’t often make sequels, preferring to create standalone games. Can you talk about your approach to developing new games versus continuing existing franchises?

We were really proud of Returnal and felt we’d explored its themes fully. However, we were eager to create another dark, science fiction world. We wanted to delve into cosmic horror, but we knew we needed a fresh perspective – something different from what we’d done before.

We really wanted to push ourselves with this one and try something different. Honestly, it’s a lot like what I was saying before – it’s all about constantly trying to improve and make better games for you guys. We want to keep challenging ourselves as developers, and that means delivering experiences that are a step up from what we’ve done before.

After making Nex Machina, we wanted to experiment with a different perspective – third-person instead of top-down – and explore a darker, sci-fi setting with a stronger narrative. This desire to constantly innovate and try new things has been a key part of our studio’s growth.

Before we wrap up, what’s one more thing you’d like to say about Saros?

If you’re new to Housemarque games, I’d recommend starting with Saros. It really showcases what we’ve been working on for years, but in a way that’s easy to pick up and enjoy. Once you’ve played Saros, you’ll have a much better understanding and appreciation for our entire history of games.

There are a lot of great games out there, and I especially love Resogun – it’s truly unique. It would be amazing if someone could learn to play Saros really well and then explore the game’s history. If you’re new to games made by Housemarque, Saros is a perfect place to start.

Okay, so this game is seriously different. From the moment I grabbed the controller, I knew it wasn’t like anything else I’d played before. Honestly, it’s so unique that it’s worth checking out just to experience that feeling – it really stands out.

We’d like to thank Gregory and Simone for their time, and PlayStation for arranging this interview. Saros is coming out next week – will you be playing it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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2026-04-26 15:11