New PS5 Exclusive Saros May Be Struggling

The latest PS5 exclusive, Saros, has seemingly been struggling on the download charts, especially compared to its developer’s previous game. Saros is made by Finnish studio Housemarque, which is best known for its 2021 game Returnal. Both Saros and Returnal fall into the bullet hell, roguelike, and action genres, with fairly similar gameplay premises.

The hype surrounding Saros was quite high before its release, and it was consistently listed as one of the most anticipated PS5 games of 2026. And when its release date was pushed back from March to April, many fans saw it as a disappointment. However, now that the latest download charts are in, it appears the hype may not have translated into an immediate influx of players.

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Sony Reveals Saros’ April Downloads

Sony recently published the PS Store top downloads for April 2026, with Saros landing at number 11 in the US and Canada and number 17 in the EU. Although the game technically launched on the last day of April, these numbers could still suggest that its Early Access period and day-one player count haven’t been as impressive as some might expect from a PS5 exclusive, especially when compared with the developer’s previous game, Returnal.

GameRant Quiz

Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)

Game	North America	Europe
Saros (April 2026 Data)	#11	#17
Returnal (April 2021 Data)	#3	#4

Download charts don’t necessarily reflect a game’s actual sales performance.

Returnal also launched on the last day of April in 2021. However, when Sony published that month’s top downloads, the game landed at number three in the US and Canada and number four in Europe, giving it a much better start than Saros. Of course, some might argue that Returnal faced weaker competition at launch, while Saros had to compete with anticipated releases like Crimson Desert. Even so, there is still a noticeable gap between the two Housemarque releases.

Despite its somewhat underwhelming player base at launch, Saros has performed well critically. According to the review aggregator site OpenCritic, more than 90% of critics who reviewed Saros recommended it, with the game holding a Top Critic Average score of 87 out of 100. As of this writing, Saros has also been well-received by players. It currently has an average user review score of around 4.5 out of 5 from nearly 5,000 votes, which is impressive in its own right. If Saros continues to earn positive reviews from both players and critics, that reception will likely be reflected in its sales and help grow its player base in the coming months.

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Shortly after its April 30 launch, Saros received a couple of updates to address minor issues and introduce more quality-of-life features. The game is already considered one of the best products on the market for making the most of the PS5 and PS5 Pro’s capabilities, and some of the changes in these patches have made it integrate with the consoles even more smoothly. Now, it remains to be seen whether all the hard work from Finnish developer Housemarque will pay off with better chart rankings in the coming months or whether Saros will join the list of underrated and underappreciated PS5 games.