Rumours and leaks are circling, and it seems like there will be aPlayStation State of Playin the offing very soon, possibly as early as next week. My colleague Tessa Kaur hastaken a guess at what might be there, but in my mind, the showcase will be about two games:Ghost of YoteiandDeath Stranding 2. Is that enough?
I have no doubt that, when I watch the show, I will come away with an appreciation for some of the smaller games shown off. There will also likely be a couple of PS VR2 games (likely existing Meta Quest games being ported over) that look a little out of place, and maybe someAstro BotDLC. Again, I ask, is that enough?
Is PlayStation Still The Exclusives Machine?
I don’t want to be a downer on this. I know adding unnecessary pressure onto the shoulders of developers is, well, unnecessary. It doesn’t lead to better results and as an audience we have to put less stock in when we get to see commercials for games and understand the difficulties that go into actually making video games to our increasingly high standards. We also haven’t seen the showcase yet, so I don’t want to pour cold water on it.
This is especially true when I just watched people whine about The Game Awards after it revealedThe Witcher 4,Okami 2, andnew games from Naughty DogandFumito Ueda.
However, it feels as though Sony has built its entire image over the past few generations on the foundation of big, name brand exclusives. This year, it seems like it will have one major first party exclusive (Ghost of Yotei), and one major third party exclusive (Death Stranding 2). PlayStation cannot sustain its image on that sort of cadence, especiallynot in a year where XboxhasAvowedandSouth of Midnight, plusClair Obscur: Expedition 33,Doom: The Dark Ages, andThe Outer Worlds 2on Game Pass, and the potential arrival ofFableandGears of War. That’s not to mentionthe Switch 2 launchand the fact headlines will bedominated by GTA 6.
Sony has to stick or twist. And to tell you the truth, I don’t mind what happens. Either it shows up at this State of Play with surprise games coming from someone like Insomniac or Housemarque (ie it sticks), or we see a lot more smaller games releasing more often to beef out PlayStation’s roster, possibly with further improvements to PS Plus (ie it twists). I think twisting is the longterm strategy that comes into play afterits live-service ambitions have crumbled. However, it’s too late for a change of direction for this State of Play, so what exactly will we see there?
Sony’s Longterm Plans Have Changed
The immediate plans probably have not changed for this showcase withthe cancellation of God of War and Horizon live-service games. This showcase hasn’t even been formally announced, so if Sony didn’t want to do one, it simply… wouldn’t. Whether that’s meaty updates for its two big hitters of 2025 plus some smaller games, or a real bona fide surprise, the show has not lost a revealbecause Horizon’s MMO is no more.
However, it does change the tone around the showcase. While PlayStation ‘won’ the PS4/Xbox One era at a canter, it hasn’t really gotten going in thePS5era. For all it was the world’s must-have console at launch, it doesn’t have a great deal of games to call its own, and those it doesdon’t feel any different to PS4 games, even if they are more powerful under the hood. This entire era of gaming is short of an identity, and while Xbox has had numerous wobbles of its own, the continued push of Game Pass does at least give the Xbox Series X/S a thing it can point to as emblematic of its own existence.
The PS5 is lacking the momentum its predecessor had, andwhile I am all in on Ghost of Yotei, I’m not sure it alone is anything more than Sony continuing to tread water. All things considered, it still has a lead on the Green Team, and therefore it can afford to tread water a while longer. But exactly how long is anyone’s guess, and Xbox may be in the ascendancy. This State of Play will be an opportunity for PlayStation to strike back. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced it will take it.
