It's been about a month since Housemarque's highly anticipated PlayStation 5 exclusive, Saros, launched into the wild. If you've spent any time exploring its dark science-fiction world, you already know it is an absolute ride.
I recently had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Greg Louden, the Creative Director behind Saros, for a deep-dive interview about what it took to bring this monstrous, moving, and deeply mysterious game to life.
Watch the full, uncut video interview with Greg Louden right now on YouTube!
From managing a massive global team to sneaking into the studio's private cinema room, Greg shared some incredible behind-the-scenes secrets that every PlayStation fan needs to hear.
Going Deeper Than Lovecraft: The Real Inspiration Behind Saros
Housemarque fans will immediately draw comparisons between Saros and the studio's 2021 hit, Returnal. While Greg considers those comparisons a massive compliment, the team knew they needed to expand their horizons and build a much deeper fictional universe.
When it came to building the lore, the catalyst wasn't what you might expect. Instead of going down the typical Lovecraftian route, Greg and his team decided to go even deeper into the history of cosmic horror.
"The real catalyst and sort of starting point was The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers," Greg told me. "It's a very evocative text. The King in Yellow was actually a reference for Lovecraft—it was the thing that inspired him. So we're like, 'Let's go deeper.'"
If you've played the game, you've likely caught references to Lost Carcosa, the enigmatic Soltari enforcers, and the terrifying yellow shore. By building a framework of massive, cosmic questions rather than giving players all the answers, Housemarque created a dark sci-fi world that feels infinitely larger than a single video game.
The Biggest Risk: Making a Hardcore Roguelite Approachable
Returnal was brilliant, but it was also famously brutal. Plenty of players bounced off it because of the steep difficulty curve. With Saros, Housemarque took their biggest creative risk yet, and it completely paid off.
The team implemented permanent progression systems, like the Armor Matrix and custom modifiers, specifically designed to make the game more approachable without losing its hardcore edge.
"The way we solved the problem of expanding out to more players, but also keeping our edge... I'm really proud of how we stuck the landing," Greg shared. "It's been so great to see so many players actually get through the game."
"Listening to the Game" Across Five Different Time Zones
What does a typical day look like when you're directing a massive PlayStation exclusive? It turns out, it involves a lot of coffee and some serious time-zone gymnastics. Greg calls Helsinki, Finland home, but he was managing a truly global team spread across the UK, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and the Americas.
But Greg's favorite part of development happens toward the end of a project, a phase he describes as "conducting the symphony."
"Towards the end, I like to say you listen to the game. The game actually tells you what it needs," Greg explained. "It tells you if a weapon needs higher damage to feel powerful, or if a sound needs more bass to feel impactful in the headphones."
The Dream Studio Perk: A Private Cinema
When the team sits down to test these details, they aren't crowded around standard office desks. Housemarque actually built a full-scale screening cinema room in their studio to test image quality and audio dynamics at the highest possible level.
"Every day I come into work and I get to go there, I realize it's a dream project," Greg admitted.
Making the DualSense Controller a Physical Experience
Housemarque has always been a studio that pushes the boundaries of PlayStation hardware, and Saros utilizes the PS5 DualSense controller in ways that few other games do. For Greg, a great game shouldn't just be a visual and audio experience—it needs to be a physical one.
- The Typewriter Effect: When you open a terminal in-game, the haptics mimic the distinct, tactile clack of an old-school typewriter.
- The Power Weapon Transform: When protagonist Arjun activates a power weapon, you can actually feel his arm physically transforming through the adaptive triggers.
"When I first tried the DualSense in a prototype, I was blown away," Greg said. "This is not just a rumble. This is texture. This is feeling."
This is such an incredible immersive tool in the experience, especially depending on the weapon you're holding in a boss battle. While I love that gameplay sessions can be relatively short (and you can actually make meaningful progress in a short time) for the few instances I had a long gameplay session, you could feel it in your trigger finger that you'd logged some hours on the battlefield.
Editor's Note
I'm very lucky as someone who runs a tech and gaming website to get access to so many great games, many times, before they're even released. It's pretty cool that for "work" I get to game.
In the case of Saros, I really enjoyed digging into this title because it was so easy to pick-up-and-play. So many games now are epically long. To progress, it often feels like you need to dedicate a 2+ hour session. Otherwise picking up the controller is a waste of time.
Because of this, I've found myself picking up a controller less and less in my downtime. I'm a dad of twin boys. I run a tech website. I do two daily radio shows. A monthly tech segment. And for work, I'm travelling every month. So my gaming time is precious and short.
Saros was an excellent way for me to reconnect with why I love gaming (and something I could enjoy in 20-30 minute chunks when my schedule allowed).
Stream the Full Interview Now!
From his childhood love of the original Doom shareware to throwing an epic global launch party, Greg Louden dropped a ton of amazing insights during our chat.
Saros is easily one of the greatest game releases of 2026. If you want to hear the full breakdown of the game's ensemble cast (including Canadian star Jane Perry), the studio's 31-year history, and more behind-the-scenes secrets, click here to watch the full interview on the Geeking Out YouTube channel!
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