Returnal: Safe to play after 1.3.6 update?

Over the past few days, Returnal has gone through a rollercoaster of updates, bugs, and community emotions. 

What started out as a routine patch update turned into a multiple-day mess that ended with developer Housemarque Studios needing to send out a completely different update than the one they started with. The initial update, version 1.3.3, caused players to receive an error message that led to some having their save files corrupted. 

The error message was completely out of the blue and Housemarque actually had to revert that patch just a short while after it released. The developers then recommended players uninstall and reinstall Returnal to ensure the game reverted to the right patch. 

Returnal players haven’t had the smoothest experience so far. (Picture: Housemarque Studios)

After all of this, Housemarque released the latest update, version 1.3.6, that has seemingly fixed most of the game’s known issues. The developers claim the update will stop most crashes and address the save file corruption bug that plagued many Returnal players. However, some are still asking if it’s safe to return to Returnal after downloading update 1.3.6.

The short answer is yes, it’ safe. At least according to Housemarque, the game’s biggest issues have been resolved and players can safely go through runs without much worry. There might still be an occasional door that won’t open, which is extremely frustrating, but the reports of crashes are down in the past few days. The PlayStation error message that caused corruption has also appeared to have dissipated. 

However, the biggest problem that players are experiencing now is the fact that they have to change settings within the PS5 to play Returnal. According to the devs, players need to “turn off Auto-Update” in the PS5 settings to ensure runs aren’t interrupted. Changing settings within the console itself is something some players aren’t comfortable with, as evident by the replies to the developers’ tweet. 

Although, if players want to safely play Returnal, they need to follow this advice. If not, then your Returnal runs might be messed up even after the 1.3.6 update.