Developer Housemarque’s moody PlayStation 5-exclusive sci-fi shooter Returnal is returnaling later this month with a big new update for all players.
Ascension, as the free update is officially known, got its unveiling as part of tonight’s PlayStation State of Play livestream, but significantly more information has now arrived in a new PlayStation Blog post. The headline, though, is that the update – significant enough to warrant boosting its version number up to 3.0 – will bring campaign co-op and a new survival mode.
Come Ascension’s arrival, two-player co-op can be accessed via the Chronosis portal near the crash landing and in other select parts of the game. Players can either host or join a public cycle or set up a private cycle if they’d prefer to play with a friend. Progression will be tied to the host, but visiting players will still get to keep at least some of their progress, including their discovered logs and xenoglyphs, and will see their Scout Rank grow.
Housemarque says the overall co-op experience will be similar to that of solo play, but notes a few changes. There’s a player revive option, for a start, albeit one that requires “some time investment”, and it warns co-op participants will be tethered back together if they wander too far apart to ensure “both players feel connected to the fates of each other”.