Returnal is the first PS5 exclusive blockbuster of 2021, but it is clear that it is not for everyone. Unlike many PlayStation exclusives, Returnal is not a third-person cinematic action/adventure game. Instead, it is a strange and brutal roguelike game that relies on the player's skills and reflexes to overcome a hostile alien world or die trying.

However, Returnal has no save system, and frequent crashes are a major problem. Developer Housemarque is working to address the crashes, but suggests that the problem may be on Sony's end.

This information comes from the game's official Discord channel, transcribed by Push Square: Housemarque has issued official statements about various game bugs (and one complaint that is clearly not a bug), specifically about Returnal's crashes mentioned:

"This is a platform issue. We have sent a report to Sony." Specifically, it has to do with the pre-start system.

The pre-start system, as the name implies, is a series of commands to start the software. Naturally, if something goes wrong during the pre-start system, the entire program may later come to a halt.

For most games, crashes are an annoying but not catastrophic problem. With the prevalence of autosave systems, players can lose five minutes to an hour or even progress. Returnal, however, has no save system, forcing the player to put the PS5 into rest mode or start anew each time the game is played. This is not a problem if that is the player's choice, but not so much if the game forces them to do so.

The staff of Tom's Guide encountered several Returnal crashes in both preview and full-length reviews. Whether a crash is annoying or devastating depends entirely on the progression of the game. All we can say for now is that Sony and Housemarque are working on this issue and players should expect the next big patch.

In addition, Housemarque has promised to investigate several other complaints about Returnal. Some players were unable to operate the doors with their pre-ordered suits on, others encountered audio issues, and others had problems remapping controls; Housemarque has recommended temporary fixes for these issues and is working on a future patch to The company will continue to investigate the root cause of the problem.

However, one area that the developers seem unwilling to change is the save system; in response to complaints about not being able to save while running Returnal,

"The game team is aware of this issue," said a Housemarque representative. 'There is no need to bring it to our attention any further.'

Like it or not, the "one per session" rule seems to be intentional; if you want to win Returnal, make sure you have several consecutive hours.