After months of giving the loudspeaker to Microsoft, Sony’s long-awaited reveal of their PlayStation 5 launch games — and what the console can do — finally aired.
The show began with a carefully animated 3D montage of the PlayStation logo in full white, before cutting to a montage of Sony’s best PS4 and PSVR exclusives. It was then followed up with a trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5, which would be getting a “expanded and enhanced” version on the PS5 in 2021. Those with access to PS+ would get access to GTA Online for free, the show added.
Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO, then took front stage to confirm that Sony and Rockstar’s partnership would continue.
“The content we’ve curated for today’s event showcases how PS5 has inspired developers to create new experiences that are transformative,” Ryan said. A note than appeared saying all game footage from that point “has been captured from PS5 systems”, after which point Miles Moralis and Spider-Man 2 appeared.
The game would be released “holiday 2020”.
Gran Turismo was also getting a sequel from Polyphony Digital — Gran Turismo 7 — with a new campaign mode. After a trailer, the stream cut to in-engine gameplay of the new menu, before transitioning to showcase some live footage of the racing and new UI.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was next off the rank, showcasing a cut-scene and a hyper-quick set-piece that transitioned between several environments and battles. A new female character then appeared, although we weren’t introduced to the new character’s name.
The game will support ray-traced reflections, Insomniac confirmed after. Some pre-alpha footage of the game, featuring Ratchet, then showcased the various portals that appear in-game. The combat and combat wheel were familiar for fans of the Ratchet & Clank remake, but the UI and environmental detail is substantially more lush than the previous game.
Luminous Productions was up next with Project Athia, a third-person action-adventure featuring a protagonist capable of manipulating the elements to some degree. Little gameplay was shown, and no date was given.
Annapurna Interactive and B12 followed, initially showing some city slums with robots. A cat walked down the street, spying on a robot barbershop, before climbing to the top of a flagpole.
The game is called Stray, where you play as the cat. It’s not out until 2021, and there was no mention of PS5 exclusivity.
After a brief showcase of the new DualSense controller, the next game was from Housemarque. Featuring a space explorer who is constantly reliving her last few moments, the game shows the character being infected by the world as she continues to travel.
It’s called Returnal, but there’s no release date as of yet. Sumo Digital was next with Sackboy: A Big Adventure, a 3D cutesy platformer with a lot of colour, woolly textures and some fun music.
No release date was given.
Next cab off the rack was a game from Lucid, featuring what looked like a futuristic, vibrant take on Destruction Derby. It’s Destruction Allstars, and as most of the other games, there’s no ETA on this one.
Ember Lab’s Mike and Josh Grier then appeared to introduce their next title. Full of lush forests and cute, almost Studio Ghibli-esque creatures, a voice-over talked about the main characters helping troubled spirits.
It’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and features third-person action-combat and some parrying. The art style was heavily Pixar-inspired.
Next up was a complete shift in aesthetic, featuring a string of anthropomorphic teenagers from a school called Volcano High. Goodbye: Volcano High is the full name of the game, and it’ll be released in 2021.
Lorne Lanning then appeared to introduce Oddworld: Soulstorm, the next evolution in the long-running platformer series. The CG was several levels ahead, Abe’s a bit more ripped, and there was even a short snippet of Abe removing his famous stitches.
Tango Gameworks then appeared with Ghostwire: Tokyo, a game first introduced a couple of years back. It’s a creepier version of Tokyo, featuring a lot of humans whose hands look like they’re possessed.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is a first-person game, showcasing what looks like a lot of hand-to-hand combat and spellcasting. The Bethesda game is due out in 2021.
Superbrothers and Pine Scented then followed, with a series of almost sepia-esque cutscenes and titles talking about a people “haunted by oblivion”. The trailer shot to the skies, showcasing a craft hovering above the earth.
Starting from “Year 0” and ticking upwards as the craft journeyed onwards, the trailer then showcased a ship flying along the surface of a planet. The game’s called Jett: The Far Shore, and is due out this holiday.
Gearbox Publishing and Counterplay was next with a fast-paced trailer showcasing a lot of high-fantasy characters swinging shields, staffs, and javelins. It was Godfall, which is still due out at the end of this year.
Heart Machine, the makers of Hyper Light Drifter, then followed with a hyper-colourful protagonist and world. Featuring a character with three orbs for eyes, what seemed like a mask, and a very Hyper Light Drifter-esque cloak, the game was called Solar Ash. It’s due out in 2021.
With a voice-over warning “it was always going to end like this”, the next trailer then cut from a dark forest and showcased the first look at Hitman 3, which is out in January 2021. “Only death awaits.”
IO Interactive’s Hakan Abrak explained the game would be the conclusion of the modern Hitman trilogy, before showcasing a segment of the game in Dubai. Set atop what is probably the world’s tallest skyscraper, Agent 47 is shown climbing up the skyscraper and wearing casual gear, although we didn’t see him interact with any new objects.
A brief glimpse was then shown of Team Asobi’s third-person adventure for Astro Bot, Astro’s Playroom. That was followed by a Souls-esque looking adventure that constantly shifted between a protagonist journeying in the woods, and ordinary city life of an older, white bearded man taking a dump, having a bath, sleeping, and doing … quite normal things.
It’s called Little Devil Inside, which makes me wonder if it’s a game set inside the old man’s dream sequence.
NBA 2K21 was then kicked off with a note from Zion Williamson, who naturally is the starring athlete this year. The trailer started with an in-game version of Williamson dribbling and dunking on a court by himself, but didn’t showcase any full gameplay or new features.
NBA 2K21 will be out in spring this year.
The next game was then from the makers of Octodad, featuring a ton of different creatures of various descriptions: a crab holding a pineapple, a strawberry with eyes, a very angry bug that looks like a watermelon, and more.
Bugsnax is due out this holiday.
Shuhei Yoshida then mentioned there was something “very near and dear” to present before the show closed. After transitioning through a few different mountains and landscapes, we were given a look at fiery demons, oversized bosses, flying drakes, and what was predicted earlier in the week: the Demon Souls remaster from Bluepoint Studios.
Arkane Lyon’s next game, Deathloop about being stuck in a time loop followed. It showed a short snippet of gameplay, where the player killed a few enemies before being shot — and then starting over again.
The gameplay showed a few Dishonoured-esque abilities, like teleporting, the ability to force push enemies, and more. The game features 8 targets the player has to kill before midnight.
It was then time to trade out the cheerfulness for a dose of creepy, colourless death. Resident Evil 8: Village was the next trailer, due out next year. It showed a brief snippet of Chris Redfield apologising to Ethan (the player character), just before he shoots a body on the floor.
A character in a space/exosuit then appeared, walking down an abandoned urban street. After shooting a gun into the air of some description, holograms began to appear, before gravity was completely upended. The main character and a small girl were then shown on the moon, looking towards Earth. It’s called Pragmata, and is launching in 2022.
What followed was the sound of Aloy’s voice, talking about the perished Old Ones. Underwater creatures were shown, colourful crabs and fish, and beach locales and colours more akin to Ori and the Blind Forest.
It was, of course, Horizon Zero Dawn‘s sequel.
Cyber alligators are a thing now, apparently. It’s officially called Horizon: Forbidden West. Guerrilla employees then explained that Aloy was moving to a “far-future America” that was ruined by massive storms and new massive machines. No release date was given.
After that, we finally got our first look at the new PlayStation 5. It’s rather space age.
There’ll be two versions: the normal console and the “Digital Edition”.
A new 3D audio headset is being released as well, Pulse 3D wireless, as well as a new DualSense charging station and HD camera. No word was mentioned of a PSVR revision, or existing support for the current PSVR headset.
This post is being updated live.
Whether you need a new TV or a pair of headphones, make sure you head over to our Sony promo codes page, so you can save on your next piece of tech.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.