Saros Doesn’t Like Being a Roguelike, So Why Is It One?
Housemarque, the Japanese developer known for arcade shooters, made a dramatic pivot in 2017, declaring “arcade is dead” on its official blog after the release of Matterfall. The studio, which had specialized in arcade-style games for over two decades, announced it would shift away from the arcade gameplay that had defined its legacy toward different genres.
This strategic shift resulted in Returnal, a third-person roguelike shooter that blended Housemarque’s signature aesthetic and chaotic action design with roguelike mechanics. The game transplanted the studio’s expertise in arcade-like gameplay into a new framework, combining arcade principles with the procedural generation and permadeath structure of roguelikes.
Returnal proved successful both critically and with players, becoming a cult hit that earned widespread acclaim. The game demonstrated that while Housemarque had moved away from traditional arcade games, it could successfully adapt its design philosophy to contemporary genres, creating engaging experiences that retained the studio’s identity while embracing modern game design trends.