While the new Returnal update brings with it a few bug, trophy, and crash fixes, it also seems to have introduced a whole new error that’s putting an unexpected stop to Selene’s looping hell on Atropos. Many players have reported that it brings up the CE-100028-1 error, which comes with the unfortunate side effect of wiping save data.
The damned Returnal CE-100028-1 error
Tons of thread popped up on the game’s subreddit shortly after the update hit and were all mostly saying the same thing: they can no longer use their save. The above error pops up and greets them and does not let them continue their run. There also doesn’t currently seem to be a fix either, meaning these players are stuck without any viable alternatives. It also is not clear if this save data will be recoverable, but a fix would likely require another patch.
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
Housemarque did imply that this save data was not totally lost in its response on Twitter. The developer said it was pulling the update and will issue a new patch in a few hours, whenever that may be. However, those who lost their data with this update will need to redownload the entire game. At this point, it may be safer to wait to download the game again when the update is out and tested first.
Save corruption is bad in any game, but particularly in Returnal. Being a roguelite means players already have to replay areas of the game over and over multiple in hopes to gain a few perks for the next run. Having to essentially do the same runs but from scratch is a tall ask. It’s also worse in Returnal since players have been asking for a more traditional save feature. This CE-100028-1 error is exactly the opposite of that.