Returnal
A third-person roguelike shooter in which you repeat a hostile alien world every time you die.
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation
- Modes
- Single-player
- Released
- Feb 15, 2023
- Developer
- Housemarque
- Publisher
- PlayStation Publishing LLC
Overview
Quick facts
- Genre
- Roguelike, Shooter, Sci-Fi
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation
- Game modes
- Single-player
- Developer
- Housemarque
- Publisher
- PlayStation Publishing LLC
- Release date
- Feb 15, 2023
- Steam Deck
- PlayableRated by Valve, not tested by PlayVerdicts
- Playtime
- Not availableNo reliable source yet
Supported features
Feature list not verified yet.
Can you run it?
System requirements
The case for and against
Reasons to buy, and what to know
Reasons to Buy
None found by the current rules.
Things to Know
No recent updates
Rule-basedThe last recognised patch or update post was 1,277 days ago. Posts are recognised by their titles, so a missed one is possible.
Has been much cheaper
Rule-based$59.99 now; the lowest recorded price is $19.79.
Computed from Steam reviews, the patch feed, the price history and the store listing by fixed rules, not written by hand. Rules: Reasons: 85%+ positive on 1,000+ Steam reviews; the latest reviews (≥50) just as positive; patched within 90 days; free, or a sale of 50%+, or priced within 5% of its lowest recorded price; Steam Deck Verified; co-op; full controller support; 10,000+ players in game right now (online games). Things to know: below 70% positive; fewer than 500 reviews; the latest reviews 10+ points under the all-time score; no recognised patch for 365+ days; priced 1.5× above its lowest recorded price; an install of 100 GB+; SSD required; Steam Deck Unsupported; no single-player mode with under 500 players in game right now; no single-player mode; in-app purchases; Early Access. At most five of each, in this order. Lines come from Steam's own listing and review counts; no text is written by hand.
Right now
Current game status
Performance & Stability
No status signalNo performance data has been collected for this title yet.
Not yet checked
No further detail is available yet.
Demo dataNo source linked yet.
Bugs & Crashes
No status signalBug and crash tracking is not connected yet.
Not yet checked
No further detail is available yet.
Demo dataNo source linked yet.
Recent Updates
Last patch over a year agoLatest patch or update post: “Returnal - April 25th Patch is Now Available” on Apr 25, 2023 (1277 days ago).
Oct 23, 2026
Recognised from official Steam announcement titles. Whether a patch fixed a specific problem is not assessed yet — see the patch history below.
VerifiedMonetization & Content
No status signalContent and monetization review has not been done yet.
Not yet checked
No further detail is available yet.
Demo dataNo source linked yet.
Player Sentiment
Mostly PositiveSteam: 79% of 6,668 reviews are positive (Mostly Positive).
Oct 23, 2026
Counts come from the public Steam review totals. Theme-level analysis of what players praise or criticise has not been collected yet.
Verified
Not shown: Multiplayer Health (not applicable to this game).
Patch history
Verified- patchReturnal - April 25th Patch is Now Available ↗
- patchReturnal - April 19th Patch is Now Available ↗
- patchReturnal - March 9th Patch is Now Available ↗
- patchReturnal - February 17th Patch is Now Available ↗
Source: Steam community announcements ↗ · fetched Oct 23, 2026 · titles and links only. Posts are recognised by their titles, so some patches may be missing and non-patch posts can slip in.
What players keep saying
Player feedback
Measured Steam numbers first, then recurring themes (not yet collected). Sentiment is only shown when it has been measured.
Steam · all-time
79% positive
Mostly Positive · 6,668 reviews
Steam · most recent reviews
No recent reviews returned.
VerifiedSource: Steam user reviews ↗Fetched Oct 23, 2026Counts only; recent figure is a sample of the newest reviews, not a full time window. Steam reviewers are not all players.
Buying advice
Price & buying advice
Current price
$59.99
No discount · Steam store (US)
Historical low (any store)
$17.39
−71% at GameBillet, Jun 26, 2026Steam only: $19.79
Value for money
—
Needs price and playtime data
Steam price, last 2 years
How it usually goes on sale
On sale 14 times in the last 24 months
- Typical discount about 55% off; the deepest was 67%.
- Sales started about every 52 days (between 17 and 98).
- A typical sale lasted about 7 days.
- The last sale ended 15 days ago.
A record of earlier sales on Steam (US), not a prediction. A "sale" here is any discount of 10% or more.
Price verdict
No discount on Steam right now ($59.99), and it has been much cheaper before. Lowest ever on Steam: $19.79 (−67%). Lowest at any tracked store: $17.39 (−71%) at GameBillet on Jun 26, 2026.
Price data checked: Oct 23, 2026
Lowest over 12 months: $17.39 · 3 months: $17.75 · Price history by IsThereAnyDeal ↗
Check the price at
Plain store links. Any future affiliate links will be disclosed and never influence the verdict.
Price alert
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How it changed
Verdict history
Oct 23, 2026
First recorded
Buy on sale79% positive of 6,668 Steam reviews · price $59.99 · much cheaper before · last patch 1277 days ago
No change since it was first recorded.
Recording started on Oct 23, 2026. What happened before that is not known.
A change is recorded only when the new verdict shows up on two checks in a row, so a brief flicker around a threshold does not appear here. Each entry shows the evidence at that moment.
Why you can trust this
Sources & methodology
Evidence status
- Public store & publisher metadataPartial
- Patch notes and update historyPartial
- Performance benchmarksNot collected
- Player review analysisPartial
- Price historyNot collected
Linked sources
- Steam store page ↗Read: not yet
How the recommendation is formed
This recommendation is computed from measured Steam reviews, patch activity and price history using fixed, public rules. It has not been reviewed by an editor. Rules: Fewer than 500 Steam reviews → Insufficient evidence. Latest-review sample (≥50) below 65% positive and 10+ points under the all-time score → Wait for fixes. All-time score below 40% positive → Not for you. Score 80%+ and a good price (free, deep discount, near a recorded low) → Buy now; a good score at a price that has been much lower → Buy on sale; otherwise Worth considering. An exceptional score (92%+) at a fair price (little to gain by waiting) also → Buy now. Free-to-play games: unless one of the rules above (Insufficient evidence, Wait for fixes, Not for you) applies, the verdict is Free to play — the question is whether to try it, not whether to buy it. Score 40–79% (mixed to positive) → Worth considering at a good price, otherwise Buy on sale. Patch freshness: a Buy now is downgraded to Worth considering when the last recognised patch is over 180 days old AND the game is online-only (no single-player mode, so updates matter) or recent reviews are 10+ points under the all-time score. For Wait for fixes, a patch within 30 days means recent reviews may not reflect it yet; none for 180+ days means a fix may not be coming. An old patch alone never lowers a verdict, and an unrecognised patch history is never treated as stale. Confidence counts available evidence (review volume, recent sample, price history, patch feed) and never exceeds Medium without editor review. The Steam price is compared with the lowest price ever seen on Steam (or, if unknown, the lowest at any tracked store). Price signal: within 5% of the all-time low, within 10% of the 12-month low, or 50%+ off → good. If waiting could save under 25% or under $5 → fair (little to gain). Otherwise: on sale but cheaper before, or never discounted beyond 30% → fair; no sale and much cheaper before → wait.
- 1Collect official, store and permitted community sources
- 2Check current patch and update state
- 3Compare price against history
- 4Write a plain-language verdict with a confidence level
Where evidence is missing
- Steam review totals are collected; theme analysis has not run yet.
- No hardware benchmark data is connected.
- No price history feed is connected.