According to the updated PlayStation Studios website, Sony considers Returnal a "mega-hit".
As reported by PlayStation LifeStyle, the PlayStation Studios page was recently updated to include Housemarque after the recent acquisition by Sony. Each logo has a brief descriptor for the studio and a recent notable game that it has worked on.
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For Housemarque the description says, "The studio behind mega-hit Returnal". Although it's possible that this is just marketing jargon and Sony is trying to push Housemarque's recent game through the studio page, it still gives an indication as to how successful Sony thought Returnal was.
It's not clear whether Sony is referring to Returnal's critical reception or its sales figures here, but it seems likely that it's a mixture of both factors. Returnal received some pretty glowing reviews when it launched and currently sits at an 85 on Metacritic. The reaction from players was similarly positive sitting at a 7.2 on Metacritic, although perhaps less unanimous due to the game's high difficulty and $70 price point at launch.
Interestingly, no sales figures were ever officially given for Returnal, and the only data we have comes from stats released by the developer. Those stats revealed that there were over 5 million hours put into the game, and 9 million player deaths total. Even though those stats are cumulative between the player base, it still shows that a good number of people played Returnal.
Although, as mentioned above, the term "mega-hit" could just be marketing terms to try and push Returnal's success, it's interesting to note that the page doesn't always use such descriptors for games listed on the page. The Team Asobi section says, "The team behind the PS5 exclusive Astro's Playroom", whilst the Bend Studio part of the site says, "Creating games for over 25 years at the base of Oregon’s beautiful Cascade Mountains." This makes it more likely that Sony does truly consider Returnal to be a "mega-hit".
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