Returnal Announces New Update, Patch Notes Revealed

Housemarque has announced that a new update for its recently released shooter Returnal will be [...]

Housemarque has announced that a new update for its recently released shooter Returnal will be launching within the coming days. The update, which is version 1.4.0 for the game, brings with it a number of important changes that many players have been requesting since Returnal first launched.

The patch as a whole primarily fixes a number of issues that Returnal has had associated with UI, cinematics, audio, and even trophy support. A handful of balance tweaks are also going to arrive, most notably in regard to difficulty. Housemarque says that all levels in the game have been adjusted "for a more balanced gameplay experience."

Again, this new patch for Returnal isn't live just this moment and won't be releasing on PlayStation 5 until this Monday on June 14. Housemarque has revealed the patch so many days in advance so that players have the opportunity to turn off auto-updates in case they are in the middle of a run and don't want to lose their progress. If you happen to be one of these people who doesn't want to lose progress, be sure to turn off automatic updates in the next day or so.

If you would like to find the full list of patch notes for this new Returnal update, you can find them down below.

Highlights:

  • Platinum: Added support for replaying certain Act 1 & Act 2 Trophies

  • Platinum: Added support to retroactively award Trophies which cannot be replayed

  • Platinum: Added additional locations for Scout Logs 9, 34, 35 & 46 to appear more often

  • Platinum: Fixed an issue where 1 Cipher was sometimes unobtainable for Biome Survey Trophies

  • Platinum: Fixed an issue where some Activity Cards displayed an incorrect count

  • UI: HUD labels for items are now hidden when Selene is firing a weapon

  • UI: Fixed an issue where 2 actions could be mapped to a single button after switching controller presets

  • Cinematics: Fixed a rare audio sync issue in the secret ending

  • Audio: General mix improvements across the experience

  • Audio: Improved surround sound setup support across the experience

  • Audio: Added more DualSense haptics across cinematic moments for deeper immersion

  • Audio: Added DualSense haptics when using the Icarian Grapnel

  • Audio: Improved the dynamic range recommendations system

  • Audio: Allow users to override the dynamic range recommendations

  • Audio: Allow users to change audio output from the game menu

Game Balance:

  • Balance: Various bug fixes to certain artifacts, parasites, consumables, and when certain malfunctions can occur in the early parts of the game

  • Balance: Players no longer receive parasites as rewards when players avenge their corpses

  • Balance: Enemies, Weapons, and Bosses - difficulty adjustments in all Biomes for a more balanced gameplay experience

Misc Bug-fixes:

  • Fixed an issue where Hyperion may drop the Key out of reach

  • Fixed an issue where Ophion may become invisible if the player uses a Reconstructor during the fight

  • Fixed weapons not being found in Biomes after scanning but not collecting them

  • Fixed an issue where Selene could jump impossibly long distances

  • Fixed multiple issues where Selene may become trapped in a room

  • Fixed a rare freezing issue when teleporting in Crimson Wastes

  • Fixed occasional frame rate drops when using the Electropylon Driver

  • Performance improvements, crash fixes, and multiple minor bug fixes