Scar-Lead Salvation

• Title — Scar-Lead Salvation • Developer — * Compile Heart • Neilo • Publisher — * Compile Heart • Idea Factory International • Platforms — * Windows • PlayStation 4 • PlayStation 5 • Xbox Series X/S • Released — Windows, PS4, PS5 29 May 2025 Xbox Series X/S 2 September 2025 • Genre — * Third-person shooter • Bullet hell • Roguelite • Modes — Single-player • Producer — Hiroshi Aoki

Scar-Lead Salvation is a third-person shooter with bullet hell and roguelite elements. The player controls Willow Martin, an amnesiac soldier who must escape from an unfamiliar place resided in by hostile mechanical beings. The levels are procedurally generated. When Willow is killed, she loses all of her equipments and must start over from the beginning.

Scar-Lead Salvation was produced by Hiroshi Aoki, who joined Compile Heart in 2021. He had worked on Rune Factory 5, Rune Factory 4 Special, and Taito video games like Dariusburst, Kaiser Knuckle, and Psychic Force. In an interview with Famitsu, the game was recognized as an uncommon title for Compile Heart – being a third-person shooter, a serious sci-fi plot, and a high difficulty – to which Aoki replied he saw it as a new wave for the developer. The two main characters, Willow Martin and AI, were voiced by Fairouz Ai and Junichi Suwabe. The development team took inspiration from Housemarque's Returnal, another third-person shooter with procedurally-generated levels. Returnal incentivizes not taking any damage. Aoki implemented the similar system to Scar-Lead Salvation, which encourages the player to make use of dodges and parries to keep Willow alive. The game was first teased through the official website that went online on January 29, 2025; it was fully revealed on January 30 as a part of Compile Heart's 2025 lineup trailer. In Japan, the PlayStation 5 version will be published both physically and digitally, while the PlayStation 4 and PC versions will be digital-only. The publisher Compile Heart announced Special Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition that include additional materials. For the international release, the game is published by Idea Factory International, with the PlayStation versions available both physically and digitally. The game was released on May 29, 2025. The Xbox Series X and Series S versions were released on September 2, 2025.