PS5 exclusive Returnal delayed one month to April

Housemarque's upcoming PS5 exclusive Returnal has been delayed by one month until April.

The revised release date for Returnal is now April 30, as you can see from the announcement from the official PlayStation Twitter account just below. Returnal was previously scheduled to launch in just under two months from now on March 19, but it's now going up against the New Pokemon Snap on April 30.

Update: Returnal has a new release date of April 30, 2021. SIE and Housemarque have made the decision to move the release date in order to give the team extra time to continue to polish the game to the level of quality players expect from Housemarque. See you in April! pic.twitter.com/xb6IBWJ5TQJanuary 28, 2021

Returnal is the first PS5 exclusive game of 2021. Even being delayed by a month, Housemarque's rogue-like shooter is still the first game to be exclusively launching on Sony's next-gen console for the coming year.

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When Returnal launches in April, it'll support DualSense features on the PS5's controller. For example, if you press the left trigger halfway in, you'll zoom in to aim at a distant target, but pressing the trigger all the way switches your weapon to its alternate fire mode.

If you're unfamiliar with Returnal, it's a third-person action-shooter set on an alien world, in which a sole character must brave an ever-changing world and deadly alien monsters. Every time the character falls in battle, the planet and monsters change somewhat, hence the rogue-like element to Housemarque's game.

It's through this design concept that developer Housemarque aims to "create unlimited replay value" for players with Returnal. For our in-depth interview with the developer on their upcoming PS5 exclusive game, head over to our Big in 2021 Returnal interview for hidden gameplay details, among other new info.

For a complete list of all the other games set to launch for Sony's next-gen console over the new year, you can head over to our upcoming PS5 games guide for more.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.