Returnal update 1.3.3 pulled after save file corruption errors – affected users told to redownload the game

Stefan L 05/05/21 Comments Closed

Housemarque has pulled today’s patch 1.3.3 for Returnal after a wave of save file corruption errors emerged. There are numerous reports of the update causing save file corruption issues with the game with an error that reads ‘Something went wrong. (CE-100028-1)’, wiping out some or all of the progression that players have unlocked through the game’s overarching story.

Patch 1.3.3 has been pulled and we are reverting back to 1.3.1 until it's fixed.

We are fixing the issue now and a new patch will be published in a few hours

All users affected by the 1.3.3 need to re-download the game.

Our sincerest apologies.

— Housemarque (@Housemarque) May 5, 2021

Q: How do we know we are affected?
A: You'll get the CE-100028-1 error popup.

..Just wait for the next patch coming soon if you're not sure.

— Housemarque (@Housemarque) May 5, 2021

The advice from Housemarque is to wait for the next patch (which is hopefully coming soon) as it should hopefully fix the issue for everyone affected. In the here and now, if you are affected and have the update installed, the patch has been pulled, so you are able to revert by deleting and redownloading the game. Of course, that’s a rather painful download that’s over 50GB in size…

The issue seems to be related to online connectivity in some way. We’ve seen Twitch streamer Bruce Greene following the advice of his community to disable the console’s network connection in order to avoid the error message cropping up while he’s playing (though he’s very close to the start).

All of this is obviously terribly ironic given the amount of criticism that Returnal has received over the last few days that attempts in the roguelike structure cannot be suspended or ‘saved’ and returned to, forcing players to keep their console in Rest Mode in order to preserve an attempt. Not only that, but Housemarque was warning people to disable auto-updates to avoid losing this progression.

A good while before this rather significant issue, we gave Returnal a stonking 9/10 in our review, here’s what Jim had to say.

It feels immensely satisfying to be sat here in 2021, eons after playing Super Stardust HD on PS3, and see just how far Housemarque has come. Offering a visual bullet hell spectacle, a showcase for the DualSense controller and a rewarding sci-fi narrative woven around the roguelike loop, we can say with unflinching confidence that Returnal is the PS5’s best game to date.

Source: Reddit, Twitter, Bruce Greene