
Update: Overnight, patch 1.3.4 for Returnal went live, which promises to fix the save-related issues the previous update introduced. So, just update your game to the latest version (the patch is roughly 1GB in size), and your progress will be a-okay — plus, you can enjoy the various bug fixes that 1.3.3 was intended to remedy. All good!
Original Story: Returnal patch 1.3.3 launched earlier today on PlayStation 5, promising a number of bug fixes and improvements. However, following the update's release, some players have been hit with game-breaking save data issues.
Our good friend Ben Potter posted on Twitter when a save-related problem made his game unplayable:
Thankfully, developer Housemarque is already on the case. Patch 1.3.3 has since been pulled from PSN, meaning that if you don't already have it installed, you won't be able to download it.
Housemarque says that it's in the process of fixing the update, and that another patch will arrive "in a few hours". We'll update this article when that happens.
In the meantime, if you have downloaded patch 1.3.3 — again, released earlier today — then the developer recommends deleting Returnal and re-downloading it. That way, the game will only install previous updates, since 1.3.3 has been removed for the time being.
Have you hit this problem? Try not to die in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 67
I was expecting this post to complain.
I got the ****ing error and I THINK my save is still fine. It still sync to cloud saves so I'm hoping the next time I open the game the save isn't corrupted. If it is I won't play the game again.
Luckily I turned off auto update so it didnt wipe a run I had on pause 😅
Yup, thought I'd done something wrong.
My save is gone back to the beginning I go lol.... I wasn't going to play tonight and wouldn't of updated but being as addicted to the game as I am I decided to play and its Over 😭😭
I'm in the same boat as @AFCC
Save file seems to be fine in the cloud storage. I really hope it is.
Except if I lose my progress I 100% will play the game again but it would be a kick in the nuts, not gonna lie :/
This should be sorted by the Christmas sale
I heard this game is hard, but this is ridiculous.
People: can we get some sort of save system?
Returnal: save? What save?
It’s a new level for rogue likes: you leave the game in rest mode and you might have to restart when you get back home.
I have to say god bless ps5 games notifications, they actually warned me to deactivate auto updates to preserve my run..
@Voltan With so many games in my backlog and so many games coming out in the next few months, I really don't think I will grind the game again unless I'm with a family member.
In 2021 save file issues shouldn't happen at all, just my opinion!
I still love the game!
P.S. I reloaded the game, I was still on Biome 4. But I'm scared that when the new fix patch comes this might corrupt the game or even have that stupid error pop up when I pick some item (didn't try it out yet). I closed the game after seeing I was in biome 4
@AFCC Yeah, I did the same. But then instead of turning the console off I played something else for a while so I hope it didn’t resync with the bad file or something. I’m kinda stressed now. Will have to see in the morning.
I had 1 collectible left to collect when this error happened. My system seems to have a save from earlier today and my cloud just after the patch. So hopefully I can use one of them when I try tomorrow.
Dare turn the game back on to see if I lost days of progress 😅.
I have to restart anyway for 2 glitched trophies but I’d rather not have to find 20 collectibles again so hopefully i’m good
Luckily I turned off auto updates for another reason…the cheats that were posted earlier, lol.
@Voltan go to the options and disable the autosync for cloud saves for all games until they release a new patch, mate!
Wow! This is crazy!
This dev really dislikes Saves.
"Oh you want more save points in the next patch, do you?"
I uploaded my save to the cloud after I started getting issues, hopefully it'll be fine after next update. This was the absolute last thing the game needed after the discourse surrounding it's price and genre.
@AdamNovice yep, heartbreaking for me tonight I finally get past the first boss, continue on for a while in second biome, then bam corrupted data and no progress saved from the last hour and a half. I don't require save points to be added mid-run and appreciate the genre I'm in here, but it's literally like I never played the game tonight so it's been a huge waste of time ultimately, and after such elation making great progress. Gutted.
@daveyboyps101 I feel yer. I just beat the 4th boss and headed to the 5th biome when problems started.
I deleted and am now reinstalling the game
Guys after I downloaded the update I couldn’t go back into my ship an unlimited amount of times to get health like I could before. I’m in biome 4. Was that a cheat code that got removed or what happened there ?
"Returnal: The Best Thing to Ever Happen to the People Who Can't Find a PS5"
Yup. Game wouldn't start after the update. Had to reinstall. Downloaded my cloud save and played without updating and I've still got meta-progress items, but have lost my ether and extra consumable slot. The initial updates have just downloaded again, but it's late. Worst comes to the worst I'd only got to the third biome (I'm the worst), so not much lost for me.
But... This is a joke.
Damn. Any errors involving save files are spine-chilling to me.
By the time I get a PS5 and this game this will all be sorted out, but for now I'll just be wishing the best of luck to all of you whose saves are in limbo.
@Gspy2j I think letting you heal once is the intended behaviour, which would make the previous unlimited healing a bug.
Heartbroken
Despite being affected by every possible Returnal bug known to man I stand by you, Housemarque.
@Gspy2j you can only do it once now, it's to prevent unlimited healing.
Thanks for playtesting! 👍
I just deleted the game , re-installed it and waited for an update to go through and now I’m getting the same error message. I’m confused.
I thought they pulled the recent update so I didn’t think the update that was downloading was the affected one.
So I deleted it again and am reinstalling again this time with updates turned off
Oh deary me. This really is dreadful marketing. Hopefully it’s sorted quickly but wow, not often a patch makes things worse. How did they not spot this before releasing the patch if the issues are this common?
This game is so good. Please developers just leave it be so you don’t mess it up.
Preordered and bought the game disc version on day 1. Haven’t even installed the game onto my PS5 yet because I was so enthralled with other games. I was going to hopefully get to this game this weekend. I think I’ll let it sit in the shrink wrap for a little longer. 😬
I'm stuck on the boss of the third biome, and I hope to god my save is in the clear. If not, I'm deleting Returnal and not going back to it again.
Also, I really, really hate that this new update removes the ability to fully heal at your ship in biome 1 whenever you wanted. It made grinding for health upgrades in biome 1 so much more tolerable. It was a viable grind strategy, and now it's been patched out of existence. Now the process is going to be a lot more tedious, and I don't think I have it in me to put up with that. If that was a bug, they should have left it in. Made the game more fun.
I wasn't affected by this personally, in fact I've been having an absolute blast (no pun intented) playing it nevertheless I'll re-download the game right now.
@RBMango Devs seem determined to really screw this game up..
NO SAVE FOR YOU!

70 euro for this game bugged game, no thanks will wait for a good price drop and most bugs to be ironed out.
Can you justify the £70 price point?
"We've done everything on our end."- Housemarque.
The game is great when it runs well but between the crashing and now this... I'm taking a break from the game to play Village, thankfully.
I love this game
£70 haha. If you’re gonna raise your prices make sure your games run properly.
@PhantomMenace84 Yeah, I've played it for around 15 hours now, including a few runs after the patch last night, and not had a single crash or bug.
The online 'another suit' thing was there after the patch install too, so cool to finally check that out. A good way to get lots of ether, as avenging the dead player gets you 4, albeit after facing a tough enemy.
Sounds like the tide is turning here. If I had a PS5 I'd have bought this. Glad I didn't.
Pretty shoddy for a game that is only on one console.
Happy to confirm the new patch is out and my saves are intact (thanks to the cloud backup)!
What a relief!
2 reasons I don't buy games day 1 - Price and Bugs Well Bugs and if you wait a few months they seem to improve the games anyway. Thank God then I have about a years worth of games to play then
If you compare this situation with Xcom2, where save corruption bug is still not solved, every saving is jeopardy, you may lose dozens of hours anytime (including endless waiting for "loading" anything) AND Firaxis don't care..... this is just a minor problem. At least you know save will corrupt and patch is on its way. By Xcom2 you play with fear not for aliens, but for every saving while you know there is no hope for fixing...
Trying to make the game harder!
Glad I read the comments here as I didn't know you can restore your health in the ship. This will be useful to use before taking on a boss. Despite not making much progress ( I still haven't beaten the first boss ) I find this game addictive and brilliant.
Yet again another game releasing with bugs or missing features that will be patched in later. If you want my money on day 1 stop releasing broken, buggy or incomplete games.
It's not chicken or the egg, for now I will keep waiting for you.
I already turn off auto update on rest mode since I'm in the middle of the runs, I hope the game didn't auto update when I turn on ps5.
@wiiware If you didn't actually play it with the "bad" patch installed, you're 100% safe. Make sure you update to 1.003.004 before playing and you'll be fine.
Returnal is a great game. Issues happen, this one was very minor when you compare the issues other games are filled with like a certain game beginning with C and ending with a certain year in the future.
@RubyCarbuncle I wouldn't necessarily call this a minor issue but it seems to have been resolved quickly and seeing how most PS5 users have PS+, hopefully not many lost their progress irreversibly (unfortunately I know some did).
A rather big bump in the road but still just one bump, sh*t happens.
@Voltan Yeah that's what I mean it was resolved very quickly. Bummer for those who lost progress though because this game is hard.
They screwed Cyberpunk; they screwed Outriders with the invertory wipe; they screwed Returnal... whats next? WTF IS GOING ON THESE DAYS? I will not buy a game at launch anymore if this is the NEXT GEN experience all over the globe atm. Publishers with their big pockets punishing every studio to work 24/7 and deal with the KNOWN problems later. Seriously...
Didn't play it the last 2 days. So I should be fine
@ORO_ERICIUS well to be honest it is not even comparable to the Cyberpunk situation ...the release build is pretty solid and just has very specific issues.
@Feena to be honest I didn´t compare the games and their bugs... I compared the mofo CEO´s in the golden Headquarters who are kicking studios like they want. $$$ stupid beta testers who pay full price (or more) to test their games and afterwards complaining on twitter and reddit whats not working so they can fix the heavy ones first.
@Voltan That's a relief, my game still run on ps5 rest mode, I want to turn off the game but I got a good runs. Housemarque really needs to add this "save and quit" feature like other rogue lite games.
Oh man, all the people who preordered and bought day1. 😪 not fair.
Stockholm Syndrome will be renamed to Returnal Syndrome soon.
I am praying since last night that my save is fine! Bad thing is I can only check my PS5 tomorrow
I'm surprised they were able to release a new patch so quickly. Don't all patches have to be scheduled to be QA tested by Sony first?
Shame after the very latest patch the pre order armor glitch is still in effect
@badbob001 QA? Where do you live? Games are NOT tested since 2018 at least! And patches are not tested at all. Yes, one person tries it once, but not some serious testing in different occasions. Those days are far gone...
Downloaded the latest patch, start game and tried to do the daily challenge for 5 ether, doors wont open, restart game and challenge is marked a completed so i can't even do it and no ether.. this is like cyperpunk...
Installed patched patch... Game crashed for me the first time after two hours
Sod this! It's still screwed after the latest update. Time for a refund!
My install is completely broken. Just reinstalling for the third time now.
Game hard crashed my system twice tonight. Deleted it from my hard drive cuz NO THANK YOU.
Had zero problems until this last update. It’s too bad because it’s such a fun game. Was just recommending it to a friend...
Very disappointing Housemarque 😭
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