In a new post on Twitter, Housemarque announced a graphic novel and an art book based on Returnal to celebrate the game’s third anniversary.
The graphic novel is titled Returnal: Fallen Asteria, a trilogy of comics coming via Dark Horse. Housemarque also released an animated version of the first issue today, which had more information in the video’s description.
Returnal: Fallen Asteria will be 88 pages long, and it will release in paperback on October 22nd, 2024. It will hit comic book shops a day later on October 23rd. At this time, Housemarque did not reveal more details about the separate art book.
Housemarque teased the mystery project just yesterday with a single image and phrase. Then, multiple teaser trailers surfaced online, which undoubtedly raised expectations for something large.
Many fans expected to see gaming-related content for Returnal, and ended up disappointed. The comics and art book appear to be Housemarque’s only announcement coming today. It seems that the devs will likely wait until a wider gaming showcase presents an opportunity to showcase their next project.
At the very least, the hype does prove there’s still a major fanbase that would show up for a sequel to Returnal, or even DLC. Returnal got a PC port in February 2023, adding key technical features that renewed interest for the game.
The Returnal universe clearly has room for more storytelling, though fans will have to make do with comics for now. Fortunately, the animated version has some stunning artwork, and its ending tease for cover art also looks promising.
For more of the latest Insider Gaming news, you can read about Xbox announcing the first wave of titles coming to Game Pass next month.
You can’t blame fans for being disappointed. When a game company teases something, you’re naturally going to expect a new game. I find it odd that they teased it the way they did.