Sony held a big streamed showcase event last night, on May 24. It was the equivalent of the keynote address it would have once given at the E3 show, which was cancelled this year after too many of the big names pulled out.
So, if you want to know what’s in store for PlayStation 5 and PSVR2, you need to check in with what Sony has to show at these Showcase events. Here’s a recap.
Spider-Man 2: The big PS5 exclusive
Spider-Man 2 was the biggest game release news of the entire show. It’s a PS5 exclusive, and the follow-up to Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
It is made by the same studio, Insomniac Games. A 10-minute gameplay video sees you play as Dark Spider-Man as well as the classic incarnation, web-slinging around the city at speed. The game will also feature Kraven the Hunter, a Marvel character set to get his own movie in October.
Spider-Man 2 is coming in “fall 2023”, which means some time between September and the end of the year for us in the UK.
Sony Project Q: PlayStation handheld
Sony is also set to release a handheld, but one quite unlike the Nintendo Switch. It is code-named Project Q, and is a device with an eight-inch screen that can stream games directly from your PS5 console.
The concept is you can play something while the rest of your family or housemates watch TV. It won’t play any games without a PS5, at least at launch, and does require those games to be installed on your console.
Sony’s Project Q looks like a screen with one-half of a PS5 DualSense controller jammed on each side, much as we predicated in our hastily constructed Photoshop mock-up back in April.
We don’t yet know how much the Project Q will cost, or when it’s out other than at some point later this year.
Sony Showcase games
The rest of the PS5 showcase was dominated by game trailers, a whole stack of them. Here’s a quick run-down of each one, for a look into which upcoming titles may grab your interest.
- Alan Wake 2, sequel to the narrative-heavy 2010 horror action adventure in which you keep gribblies at bay with a flashlight. Due October 17. Current-generation consoles only.
- Assassin’s Creed: Mirage features classic Assassin’s Creed gameplay, but this time set in Baghdad. Due October 12. Coming to PS5, PS4, and other platforms.
- Street Fighter 6 got a new trailer, one teasing the single-player story mode made popular in one-on-one fighters recently by Mortal Kombat 11. Due June 2. The confirmed Street Fighter 6 platforms are PS5, PS4, PC, and Xbox Series X.
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 got its first teaser trailer at the PlayStation Showcase. We saw just a brief glimpse of gameplay and what looks like an epic fantasy RPG, much like the original. It’s coming to current-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles, planned for 2024.
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a flashy remake of Metal Gear Solid 3. Release date unknown.
- Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1 compiles the classic first three games from the series for PS5, due out towards the end of the year.
- Foamstars has been called the PS5’s alternative to the Nintendo Switch’s Splatoon. It’s a hectic third-person arena game in which you fire colourful foam globs rather than bullets. TBA.
- Ready for some scares? Horror hit Five Nights at Freddy’s is coming to PSVR2 with Help Wanted 2, due out later this year. Meanwhile, Resident Evil 4 remake’s VR mode also got a trailer, and it looks absolutely terrifying. The game was released in March on PlayStation, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
- Other PSVR2 games shown off include Arizona Sunshine 2, Crossfire: Sierra Squad, nDreams and Beat Saber.
- Heading back to the main PS5 console, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a role-playing game with a Japanese stylistic bent, but the action appears to play out in real-time rather than in turns. Due “Winter 2023” for PS4 and PS5.
- Revenant Hill is a cartoon adventure reminiscent in style to Night in the Woods, which makes sense because it’s made by the same team of people. It is currently in development for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
- Tower of Fantasy is an open-world role-playing game with manga-style art, sure to attract comparisons to the ultra-popular Genshin Impact. It’s set for a summer release on the PlayStation.
- Want more? Sony also showed Helldivers 2, Immortals of Aveum, Ghostrunner 2, Sword of the Sea, The Talos Principle 2, The Plucky Squire, Phantom Blade Zero, and Teardown. A lot.
