{"id":2030782,"date":"2026-07-07T08:33:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2030782"},"modified":"2026-07-07T08:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:33:44","slug":"acclaimed-ps5-roguelike-shooter-saros-gets-a-substantial-free-trial-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2030782","title":{"rendered":"Acclaimed PS5 roguelike shooter Saros gets a substantial free trial, but there&#8217;s a catch"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/saros\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Saros<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Acclaimed PS5 roguelike shooter Saros gets a substantial free trial, but there&#8217;s a catch<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Arjun&#8217;t believe it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1_NSDDo7c.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A screenshot of Saros, showing the protagonist Arjun, looking toward the ceiling. His head and shoulders are visibile from a top-down, face-on perspective.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"1_NSDDo7c.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Sony Interactive Entertainment \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/sherif-saed\">Sherif Saed<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Senior Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-07-07T08:33:44+00:00\">July 7, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"c7b4d6e4-8821-481f-b074-a1e7010d864a\" data-name=\"Saros\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Saros\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Saros\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Saros\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Saros\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Saros\" title=\"Follow Saros\"><br \/>\n  Follow Saros<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Saros, the latest game from the arcade-loving game creators at Housemarque, is getting a new two-and-half hour trial for anyone interested in trying it.<\/p>\n<p>Housemarque announced the trial on Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Housemarque\/status\/2074147289296232503\">on its official X account<\/a>. Though the trial is technically free, it&#8217;s paradoxically only available to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/playstation-plus-games-list-premium-extra-this-month-6300\">PlayStation Plus Premium<\/a> subscribers. Premium is the highest of three tiers of PlayStation&#8217;s monthly subscription service, costing \u00a315\/$16 per month, nearly double that of the base &#8211; Essential &#8211; tier.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Saros - Launch Trailer | PS5 Games\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rj_1CzKUR4w?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/rj_1CzKUR4w\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Saros &#8211; Launch Trailer | PS5 Games<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rj_1CzKUR4w\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>While one of the advertised benefits of Premium is the ability to access free trials, Saros reportedly has not been selling well, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/saros-ps5-sales-launch-returnal\">with some analysts concerned the game may struggle to break even<\/a>. The game, which is the follow-up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/returnal\">Returnal<\/a>, is in a similar roguelike shooter genre, but its sales momentum at launch has been reportedly slower than the 2021 title.<\/p>\n<p>Both games are critically acclaimed, but the larger PS5 installed base of 2026 makes Saros&#8217; performance a little more disappointing. That said, the price tag of \u00a370\/$70 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-announces-major-price-hikes-for-ps5-ps5-pro-and-portal\">more expensive PS5 consoles<\/a> have likely played a part. It&#8217;s also worth keeping in mind that players are becoming far more selective about what they spend money on with worsening economic conditions globally. Given that, it&#8217;s a little surprising Sony wouldn&#8217;t want to make the trial available to more players in the hopes some of them would buy the full version.<\/p>\n<p>Housemarque, for its part, isn&#8217;t particularly concerned about the slow sales start, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/housemarque-saros-returnal-sales-fromsoftware-ambitions\">explaining in a recent interview<\/a> that Returnal was something of a late bloomer itself.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is just the start of the discussion and conversation with the gaming community,&#8221; the developer said. &#8220;If you have played Saros, you know that there are a lot of things that we can do and tweak and add. We hope that we can keep on doing that for a while.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/saros-review\">Saros Eurogamer review<\/a>, Rick Lane called it &#8220;a tremendous action experience [whose] ambitious narrative gets lost in the fireworks&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Saros, the latest game from the arcade-loving game creators at Housemarque, is getting a new two-and-half hour trial for anyone interested in trying it.<\/p>\n<p>Housemarque announced the trial on Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Housemarque\/status\/2074147289296232503\">on its official X account<\/a>. Though the trial is technically free, it&#8217;s paradoxically only available to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/playstation-plus-games-list-premium-extra-this-month-6300\">PlayStation Plus Premium<\/a> subscribers. Premium is the highest of three tiers of PlayStation&#8217;s monthly subscription service, costing \u00a315\/$16 per month, nearly double that of the base &#8211; Essential &#8211; tier.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Saros - Launch Trailer | PS5 Games\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rj_1CzKUR4w?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/rj_1CzKUR4w\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Saros &#8211; Launch Trailer | PS5 Games<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rj_1CzKUR4w\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>While one of the advertised benefits of Premium is the ability to access free trials, Saros reportedly has not been selling well, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/saros-ps5-sales-launch-returnal\">with some analysts concerned the game may struggle to break even<\/a>. The game, which is the follow-up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/returnal\">Returnal<\/a>, is in a similar roguelike shooter genre, but its sales momentum at launch has been reportedly slower than the 2021 title.<\/p>\n<p>Both games are critically acclaimed, but the larger PS5 installed base of 2026 makes Saros&#8217; performance a little more disappointing. That said, the price tag of \u00a370\/$70 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-announces-major-price-hikes-for-ps5-ps5-pro-and-portal\">more expensive PS5 consoles<\/a> have likely played a part. It&#8217;s also worth keeping in mind that players are becoming far more selective about what they spend money on with worsening economic conditions globally. Given that, it&#8217;s a little surprising Sony wouldn&#8217;t want to make the trial available to more players in the hopes some of them would buy the full version.<\/p>\n<p>Housemarque, for its part, isn&#8217;t particularly concerned about the slow sales start, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/housemarque-saros-returnal-sales-fromsoftware-ambitions\">explaining in a recent interview<\/a> that Returnal was something of a late bloomer itself.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is just the start of the discussion and conversation with the gaming community,&#8221; the developer said. &#8220;If you have played Saros, you know that there are a lot of things that we can do and tweak and add. We hope that we can keep on doing that for a while.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/saros-review\">Saros Eurogamer review<\/a>, Rick Lane called it &#8220;a tremendous action experience [whose] ambitious narrative gets lost in the fireworks&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Saros Acclaimed PS5 roguelike shooter Saros gets a substantial free trial, but there&#8217;s a catch Arjun&#8217;t believe it. Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment \/ Eurogamer News by Sherif Saed Senior Contributor Published on July 7, 2026 Follow Saros Saros, the latest game from the arcade-loving game creators at Housemarque, is getting a new [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2030782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2030782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2030782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2030782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2030782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}