Returnal could be the next PlayStation exclusive heading to PC

Returnal
(Image credit: Housemarque)

Returnal appears to have shown up in Steam's backend files, hinting at a PC release date.

As spotted by members of the SteamDB Discord (via resetera), a listing for a project named 'Oregon' has recently appeared on SteamDB, a third-party site that scours the database of Valve's platform. 

While the listing is currently found under that 'Oregon' name, there are multiple clues that hint at it being Returnal. Those include a number of localization strings referencing in-game locations including the planet of Atropos, DLC area the Tower of Sisyphus, and Helios, the ship that protagonist Selene arrives on.

Elsewhere, the game is tagged as a third-person, bullet-hell roguelike with a female protagonist and online coop functionality. While that's not a flawless clue, it certainly points in the direction of Returnal.

Add to this Returnal's appearance on the massive Nvidia leak that's proving to have been increasingly accurate and Sony's reiteration of its increasing plans for PC gaming, and it certainly seems possible that Housemarque's latest could be making the jump to a new platform.

With no official word from Sony, there's always a chance that this is all some strange coincidence. That said, the last time we saw a SteamDB leak like this for a Sony game was for God of War PC, which Sony confirmed within an hour of its discovery. That could mean an announcement later today, or in the not too-distant future, but we'll have to wait and see.

For a closer look at the games Sony might one day bring to PC, here's a list of upcoming PS5 games.

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.