It appears that Sony’s efforts to ramp up their PC releases are starting to bear big results, as another update to SteamDB points to Returnal, the third-person shooter roguelike released by developer Housemarque in April 2021. The game is currently only available on PlayStation 5, making this one, once officially confirmed, the first true PS5-exclusive to make its way to PC.
The leak was tagged by another publication which noted updates to its SteamDB listing. Codenamed Oregon, several clues in the strings of code reveal it to be Returnal, including the existing user tags (third-person shooter, sci-fi, exploration, rogue-lite, rogue-like, etc.). The SteamDB update also added some localization strings which mention the Tower of Sisyphus, a nod to the game’s recent DLC Ascension, which added a mode titled after the same name.
Returnal coming to PC was the talk ever since May when the SteamDB listing first surfaced. Several details also supported the release, like an exclusive video showing the game running on PC, shared by an anonymous source. There was also Returnal’s inclusion in the huge GeForce Now leak last year.
Returnal features elements from roguelike shooters and psychological horror and takes place in a futuristic sci-fi setting. Players control Selene Vassos, a lone space pilot equipped with a suit armed with high-tech weapons. Finding herself stranded on an alien planet called Atropos, she also realizes that she is stuck in a time loop, finding herself back in the moment of the crash every time she dies. Changing along with every cycle is Atropos itself, and players will find that the changing world presents more challenges as the cycle renews.
Last March, the game received a DLC called Returnal: Ascension, which added several new modes. The first is the co-op mode which allows players to experience the game’s story with a friend. The second is the Tower of Sisyphus, a survival mode only available for single-player. It will see players grapple with a dangerous gauntlet of twenty floors, with each getting harder than the last. The DLC was made available for free and is expected to get into the PC version once it is officially unveiled.
