The Saros: Zenith update is out now on PS5, free for everyone who owns Saros. Housemarque’s big post-launch patch went live on October 19 and adds a boss rush mode with online leaderboards, a New Game+ mode called Eclipse Layers, 20 new Carcosan Modifiers and accessibility options led by a new Slow Game Speed setting, according to the PlayStation Blog announcement by Zenith design lead Abebe Tinari.
The studio says it had two goals: give veterans a reason to go back to Carcosa, and make the game easier to get into without cutting the bullet patterns that define Housemarque’s combat.
Table of Contents
Saros Zenith update at a glance
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Release | Out now, October 19, 2026 (announced 12:05 UTC) |
| Price | Free for all Saros owners |
| Platform | PS5 only (Saros is not on PS4 or PC) |
| New modes | Overlord Rush (boss rush), Eclipse Layers (New Game+) |
| New options | Slow Game Speed, Auto-fire, gyro aiming, High-Contrast visuals |
| Online | Leaderboards need an internet connection and a PlayStation account |
New accessibility options: Slow Game Speed and Auto-fire
Instead of thinning out enemy projectiles, Housemarque added Slow Game Speed. The attacks stay the same, but the whole game runs slower, so you get more time to read telegraphs and pick a jump, dash, shield or parry. You choose how much it slows down, and whether it switches on automatically in combat or only when you toggle it.
Auto-fire shoots your weapon whenever you aim at a hostile, which helps players who struggle to hold a button for long stretches. Reloading is not automatic, so perfect reloads still need a well-timed press. Zenith also brings Motion Sensor Aiming (gyro aiming on the DualSense), and Sony’s Saros game page lists a High-Contrast visual option too. Both sit alongside the existing button remapping.
The Carcosan Modifiers screen, where Zenith adds 10 Protections and 10 Trials. Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque
20 new Carcosan Modifiers
The Carcosan Modifier system, which lets you tune the difficulty, gets 10 new Protection Modifiers that make runs more forgiving. One example is Corruption Melee Enhancement: built-up Corruption on your armor is consumed by your next melee hit and turned into bonus damage. There are also 10 new Trial Modifiers for harder runs, such as Hostile Regeneration, where stunned large enemies recover quickly and can only be finished with a melee strike. That brings the total to 25 Trials.
Eclipse Layers: Saros New Game+ explained
Eclipse Layers unlock once you clear Saros. New nodes appear on the Armor Matrix in Passage, and they open the gate to the next layer, a harder version of the game with altered rules. Before each layer you must pick enough Trial Modifiers to reach a set threshold, but which ones you combine is up to you.
In these layers Arjun wears a Crown and his armor glows gold, and the more Trials you stack, the bigger the Crown gets. It’s more than a cosmetic: higher Crown levels let you read more of the 12 new “Visions”, murals left by an ancient king across Carcosa. Sony’s page also mentions new trophies tied to the Eclipse Layers.
Overlord Rush pits you against the main game's Overlords back to back. Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque
Overlord Rush boss mode and leaderboards
Overlord Rush, opened from the Primary Unit in Passage, is a timed run against the game’s Overlord bosses with global and friends leaderboards. It comes in three Sets:
- Incursion and Ascension: three Overlords each, about 10 minutes per run.
- Totality: all eight Overlords back to back in one gauntlet.
Leaderboards can be filtered by main weapon, so you can chase the top spot with your favorite gun even if the overall chart is out of reach.
How to get the Saros Zenith update
Update Saros on your PS5; there’s nothing extra to buy. Housemarque and Sony hadn’t posted a download size or version-numbered patch notes when we checked (October 19, 12:30 UTC). If you don’t own the game yet, the PlayStation Store lists the standard edition at $69.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition at $79.99, and PS Plus Premium members can play a 2.5-hour trial first. Saros came out on April 30, 2026, and Zenith was first announced in early September. Fans of the studio’s older work can read why we picked Returnal as our Game of the Year back in 2021, and how PlayStation bought Housemarque that same year.
What’s next
Expect the Overlord Rush leaderboards to fill up fast now that the update is live. We’ll add the patch notes if Housemarque publishes them. For more PlayStation news, see our God of War Laufey release date and editions guide and this month’s PS Plus Extra lineup.
Sources: PlayStation Blog, PlayStation.com, Housemarque on X, PlayStation Store, Gematsu.
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Featured image: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Housemarque
