Ninth place in the US charts. That's where Housemarque'sSaros landed in April 2026, based on the latest Circana data covering the month's video game spending. The catch: the game launched on April 30, meaning that chart position reflects roughly three days of sales. Context matters here.
Three days of data, one chart position
The April 2026 Circana report, shared by analyst Mat Piscatella on Bluesky, shows US video game spending grew 3% for the month, led by Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream at the top of the chart. Saros sits at ninth, with Starfield's PS5 release one spot ahead at eighth.
Here's the thing: Circana's chart is ranked by revenue, not units. At a $70 price point, Saros gets a natural boost compared to cheaper titles. Ninth place in a competitive month, from a standing start of three days, is neither a disaster nor a triumph. It's a soft debut for a PS5 exclusive, and that's the honest read.
For reference, Alinea Analytics had previously estimated Saros at around 300,000 worldwide sales in its opening period, selling slower than Returnal did on a smaller PS5 install base. That context makes the chart position feel a bit more telling.
Circana's new methodology changes everything
This report marks a notable shift in how Circana presents its data. For the first time, the tracker is blending confirmed digital sales figures from publishers who share that data with projected estimates for those who don't, most notably Nintendo.
The practical effect: Tomodachi Life tops the chart, but only its physical sales are confirmed. Its digital numbers are estimated. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella limited this report to a top 10 specifically because titles further down the rankings could fall within the margin of error for those projections, making them unreliable to report.
Whether blending real data with estimates is an improvement over the old approach is genuinely debatable. The old method undercounted Nintendo titles significantly in the digital era. The new approach fills that gap but introduces uncertainty. There's no clean answer.
Saros combat in action
What the broader chart tells us
The April top 10 is worth a quick look for context:
Starfield jumping over 200 chart positions compared to March following its PS5 launch is arguably the more interesting story in the lower half of the chart. That game has years of baggage and mixed word of mouth, yet it outpaced Saros in its debut month on PlayStation.
On the hardware side, the Switch 2 outsold the PS5 in both units and revenue for April. The PS5 is still tracking 2% ahead of PS4 at the same point in that console's life in the US, which is a genuinely solid result given the price point and broader economic headwinds.
The Returnal shadow
Saros is a direct spiritual successor to Returnal, and that lineage cuts both ways commercially. Players who bounced off Returnal's punishing difficulty weren't rushing back, and players who loved Returnal's uncompromising design reportedly feel Saros pulled its punches to chase a wider audience. Push Square editor Sammy Barker noted this tension directly: Housemarque was effectively trapped between two audiences, and softening the experience was always going to cost them some of the original's most passionate fans.
The game's reported development budget sits around $76 million, though some community discussion places the development cost closer to $55 million before marketing. That puts the breakeven point somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million lifetime units. Reaching that figure over the course of the year is plausible, but it won't be driven by frontloaded launch momentum.
If you want a deeper take on how the game actually plays, our full review breaks down what Housemarque got right and where the Returnal comparison holds up.
What comes next for Saros
Circana's own methodology caveat is worth keeping in mind as May data rolls in: Piscatella flagged that Saros is likely to be heavily frontloaded, making a May chart appearance unlikely. The game's commercial story will play out over a longer runway, through discounts, word of mouth, and potential platform additions.
For now, ninth place from three days of sales is the number on the board. It's not a catastrophe, but it's not the kind of debut Sony would have wanted for one of its flagship PS5 exclusives in a month where the Switch 2 dominated the conversation.
For everything else you need to know about the game, the Saros guides collection has you covered on the practical side while the sales picture continues to develop.
