Three Wins Over Ghost of Yōtei and 007 First Light: PS5 Exclusive Saros Sweeps the 2026 Music + Sound Awards
While the end-of-year gaming award season is only just getting underway, PlayStation 5 exclusive Saros has already claimed a major international sweep. Developed by Finnish studio Housemarque, the sci-fi action title took home three top honors at the 2026 Music + Sound Awards, beating out a stacked lineup of blockbuster finalists.
A Triple Victory Over Ghost of Yōtei, 007 First Light, and Borderlands 4
Voted on by a jury of industry composers and audio post-production specialists, the 2026 Music + Sound Awards celebrated the haunting sonic identity of the alien planet Carcosa. Going head-to-head against major contenders including Sucker Punch's Ghost of Yōtei, Borderlands 4, Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred, Planet of Lana II, and IO Interactive's 007 First Light, the Sony Interactive Entertainment release secured three official trophies:
- Best Original Composition in a Video Game (Gameplay): Awarded to composer Sam Slater and electronic musician Daniel Avery, alongside music producers Joe Thwaites and James Greenwood.
- Best Original Composition in a Video Game (Cinematics / Cutscenes): Awarded to Sam Slater with Audio Lead Ari Pulkkinen and Game Director Gregory Louden at Housemarque.
- Best Sound Design in a Video Game (Cinematics / Cutscenes): Won jointly by Housemarque and PlayStation Studios Sound (led by Ari Pulkkinen, Loïc Couthier, and Simon Gumbleton).
Alongside those three category wins, the studio also earned a finalist nomination for Best Sound Design in a Video Game Trailer.
Sam Slater and Daniel Avery Fuse Drone-Metal With Dark Electronic Pulse
To follow up the cold biomechanical atmosphere of Atropos in Returnal (which previously shone on PS5 and later on Steam), Housemarque enlisted Sam Slater, the double Grammy and Emmy Award winner acclaimed for his work alongside Hildur Guðnadóttir on Chernobyl and Joker. Capturing the scorching heat and cosmic dread of Carcosa required a bold sonic departure built on heavy drone-metal textures, distorted brass, and industrial percussion.
During high-intensity combat encounters, that visceral foundation merges with dark electronic rhythms crafted in collaboration with British producer Daniel Avery. The dynamic score shifts seamlessly with weapon fire, dashes, and bullet-hell patterns on screen, while PS5 Tempest 3D AudioTech pinpoints every incoming projectile across the battlefield.
Evolving Returnal's Loop With Permanent Progression on PS5
Released on April 30, 2026 exclusively for PlayStation 5 with dedicated PS5 Pro enhancements, Saros casts actor Rahul Kohli as Arjun Devraj. Trapped on the lost off-world colony of Carcosa beneath an ominous total eclipse, the Soltari Enforcer fights through shape-shifting ruins in search of a missing figure from his past.
While keeping Housemarque's signature third-person bullet-hell intensity, the game reshapes the roguelite structure by introducing permanent progression between cycles. Every death alters the world around Arjun, yet players retain resources to permanently upgrade their Soltari weaponry and suit loadouts so each return into the eclipse feels tangibly stronger.
My Perspective
As someone who always plays with headphones late at night to soak in every detail of a game's atmosphere, seeing Saros sweep these three categories feels completely deserved. What left such a lasting mark on me in Returnal was the way audio cues guided my reflexes in the middle of pure chaos before my eyes could even process a threat. In Saros, I found that same surgical precision paired with something even heavier and more visceral: Sam Slater's low, subterranean drones and Daniel Avery's hypnotic electronic pulse make it feel as if Carcosa's eclipse is breathing right against your eardrums. My take is that it is rare for a soundtrack to stop merely accompanying the action and become the actual heartbeat of the combat loop, and I could not be happier to see this level of craft honored alongside such massive releases.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
