With a large number of upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusives already announced, Sony may not have the element of surprise on its side anymore, but it sure has a huge catalogue of hotly anticipated titles on the horizon. The question is: how many of those games will actually release in 2019? With the Japanese giant keeping a lid on release dates these days, it can be hard to predict when its titles will actually deploy – but last year it dated both God of War and Detroit: Become Human within a couple of months of them arriving in stores. Could history repeat itself?
Blood & Truth
London Studio’s gangster PSVR exclusive has been taking a bit of a hiatus of late, with the title missing in action for most of 2018, outside of the odd convention demo. Sony’s virtual reality headset found a new lease of life over the holidays, though, with great pricing and killer software prompting many to take the plunge. The company needs to keep that stream of top-notch content coming, and considering it’s been over two years since PlayStation VR Worlds released, we have to imagine that this gritty trip through Britain’s seedy underbelly will be ready at some point this year.
Will Blood & Truth Release in 2019? Lookin’ likely, guv!
Concrete Genie
Sony’s first-party output has been good for a decade now, but there was a period during the PlayStation 3’s latter years where it was pumping out some incredible indie-esque titles that really pushed the envelope creatively. It’s stepped away from a lot of that, with small publishers like Annapurna Interactive picking up the reins, but games like Concrete Genie prove that it still has an eye for a unique experience. Effectively a painting puzzler where you create animated murals, this sophomore effort from PixelOpus is sure to be an HDR showpiece – and considering it’s already slated for the Spring, we’re certain it’ll be out this year.
Will Concrete Genie Release in 2019? Beat the devil out of your magical paintbrush, the outlook is good.
Days Gone
Announced alongside God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man, it feels like Days Gone has been in development for eternity. To be fair, that’s not entirely Sony Bend’s fault: we reckon the apocalyptic open worlder is virtually finished, and scheduling has forced the studio to keep Deacon St. John’s adventure under wraps. Originally due out last year, the title was delayed due to Red Dead Redemption 2. It was then scheduled for February, but a hellish landscape pushed it all the way back into April. Will it make its current date? We reckon it has to. The good news is that the developer has had a ton of time to make sure the final project is polished to perfection.
Will Days Gone Release in 2019? Only the undead can stop it from deploying on 26th April.
Dreams
Dreams is one of the PlayStation exclusives we’re most looking forward to, and it’s nice to see that its beta is actually out after two years of false promises. This has clearly been a challenging project for Media Molecule, but it must be remembered that there’s no blueprint for the type of title it’s building here – and the Guildford-based developer isn’t even that big to begin with. We reckon the beta means that the project is nearing completion now, and while there’ll clearly still be things to fix, tweak, and improve based on player feedback, we reckon it’ll be ready for release some time this year.
Will Dreams Release in 2019? We’d bet a box of custard creams on it.
Death Stranding
Crazed creator Hideo Kojima has said that Death Stranding will release before the Olympics, which are scheduled to take place in 2020. There’s a lot of chatter that it will be ready this year, but its E3 2018 gameplay trailer still looked early to us. We believe all of the speculation about Kojima Productions being ahead of schedule and the title coming together quicker than anticipated, but we just can’t see this one dropping until 2020. It’s a new IP from a new developer, and you’ve got to remember that when the title was announced in 2016, the studio didn’t even have an engine back then. It’s since found a partner in Guerrilla Games, but we’d be shocked if this came out over the next 12 months.
Will Death Stranding Release in 2019? We reckon Kojima will keep the craziness on ice another year.
Erica
What the hell is Erica? That’s what you’re all saying, right? We played this PS4 exclusive at an event a couple of years ago, but very little has been said about it since. The title – which can be played with a smartphone or DualShock 4 controller – is effectively an FMV adventure game, where you make choices to manipulate the story. It’s surprisingly tactile and it looked really polished when we tested it out in 2016. Assuming that Sony will continue its PlayLink push this year, we have to imagine that this will be a part of the lineup.
Will Erica Release in 2019? Yes, the FMV adventure has got to be close to completion now.
Everybody’s Golf VR
Everybody loves Everybody’s Golf – the clue’s in the name, after all. Following its nifty PS4 entry, Clap Hanz is once again collaborating with Japan Studio on a PSVR adaptation of the happiest sports series ever created. The virtual reality format means that it’s probably going to be quite different to the title from two years ago, with a new motion control hitting mechanic replacing the triple-click format of before. Still, the veteran developer has been making these titles for over two decades now, and it’s already been confirmed for a 2019 release.
Will Everybody’s Golf VR Release in 2019? Putt money on it.
Ghost of Tsushima
It’s been a long time since inFAMOUS: Second Son and inFAMOUS: First Light, but as developers consistently like to remind us, making new intellectual properties is tough. We’d expected Ghost of Tsushima to be extremely polished at E3 2018, then, but it actually still looked kind of rough – impressive, there’s no doubt about that, but early. As such, we’d be surprised if this love letter to samurai cinema made it out in 2019 – there’s just no real rush, is there? There is some speculation that, along with Death Stranding and The Last of Us: Part II, this could be a cross-gen title. Stranger things have happened – but we think the craziest of all would be this coming out within the next 12 months.
Will Ghost of Tsushima Release in 2019? Sheathe your sword, we don’t think it’s ready.
The Last of Us: Part II
It’s the most anticipated game in the PS4 portfolio by some margin, but Sony’s not going to pressure Naughty Dog to put out The Last of Us: Part II this year. There’s been some chatter that the California-based studio is targeting 2019, and we can believe it – but realistically, is it going to make it? We just can’t see it. The vertical slice shown at E3 2018 was seriously impressive, and to achieve that level of quality across an entire campaign is going to take serious effort from the studio. Can it do it? We’re talking about one of the best developers in the world here, so of course it can – we just don’t expect it to be in a rush. Cross-gen with the PS5, then? Possibly.
Will The Last of Us: Part II Release in 2019? Y’know Ellie, we really are looking at 2020.
MLB The Show 19
Just like the sun rises and falls, Sony San Diego releases a new edition of MLB The Show every year to coincide with the new baseball season. With free agent Bryce Harper on the cover – his team selection seems set to overlap with the new game’s marketing campaign – and a 26th March release date already confirmed, there’s not much more to say here, is there? It’d take a pretty big baseball bat to prevent this from releasing in 2019.
Will MLB The Show 19 Release in 2019? Did you really need to ask?
Which upcoming PS4 exclusives do you think will release in 2019? Which of Sony’s titles are you most looking forward to? Tell us the damn date in the comments section below.
Comments 53
Kojima in 2016: “It will be out before the Olympics. To go a little further, there is a movie called Akira, and it will be out before the year in which Akira is set.''
Kojima in 2018: Kojima-san mentioned near the end that the game is still on track to release when planned, which is the year in which Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira is set.
The 1988 film Akira is set in the year 2019.
So a 2019 date isn't out of the question. Especially with the news that they've wrapped up filming and motion capture, and with Sony saying ''We have never before seen a game being created at such a fast pace.'', I could see 2019. Either Ghost, Death Stranding or TLOU2 will release this year. My bet is on Death Stranding, followed by Ghost. But at least one of the big three will release this year.
Midly excited about Ghosts but none of the rest are really do it for me tbh. Death Stranding looks "interesting" but it's still so vague about what type of game it actually is hard to put any excitement level at all to it. Hopefully they have some surprises for this year that we don't know about yet, the Show 19 is the only one on this list that is a must buy for me at the moment.
@Octane Mentioned in the article.
@get2sammyb Yeah, I know, but I think they're going to release one of the big three this year, and with all the ''evidence'', I think Death Stranding is the likeliest out of the bunch. Just my thoughts.
Hmm I dunno. I think surely at least one of the "big 3" has to come out this year, otherwise 2020 is looking pretty crowded, especially if PS5 comes out then too.
I don't know which one, and there's good evidence to say all of them aren't done yet, but I just feel the year is looking a bit empty exclusive-wise compared to the past few.
@roe Look back at 2012, though. The biggest games that year were Journey and PS All-Stars Battle Royale, and then they had an amazing year in 2013 with God of War, Beyond: Two Souls, Gran Turismo 6, and The Last of Us all during the same year as the PS4.
I think 2019 is going to be like 2012 personally. (Days Gone and Dreams are still big titles, though!)
@roe
Was basically going to type the samething. 2017 and especially 2018 were tremendous years as far as first party exclusives but aside from Days Gone (which I am looking forward to, Sony Bend usually makes good games) this year seems slower. That's not too suprising, it was bound to happen. Maybe Death Stranding arrives late this year but Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II are almost surely 2020 games.
@get2sammyb
I think Conrete Genie could surprise some people this year like Journey did seven years ago. Seems to be going a bit under the radar but it's different to a lot of what's on the market so definitely a game worth keeping an eye on. I'm also very tempted to finally jump on the VR bandwagon if Blood & Truth is any good. Only thing giving me pause is I have some concerns over motion sickness, still get headaches from FPS sometimes.
The weird thing is, Sony also said that they specifically waited with the reveal of Ghost until it was the 'right time'. They didn't want to show it off too early. If it's 2020, and it got revealed in late 2017. Like, what? How is that not the definition of too early?
@Gamer83 I agree with you on Concrete Genie.
@Octane Game development is hard, though, innit. Maybe they were originally targeting 2019 but it's ended up taking longer.
@get2sammyb That's very true. But the way they worded it, I expected it to be a late 2018 or early 2019 title at first.
Days gone and dreams will be released this year I think, I don't know about tlou 2, death stranding, and ghost. The one I'm looking forward is ghost, tlou 2 and ds, maybe days gone if the reviews are good, and dreams if players levels/game are good.
can't wait for ghost of tshushima and and days gone.word up son
Hopefully WiLD still exists too
You forgot Medievil =p
@LiamCroft What about Deep Down?
Days Gone got pushed back to April, I thought it was February? Well maybe I knew that at one point but forgot. Waiting until they delay it again so it doesn't get overshadowed by Game of Thrones.
If all 3 of TLOU2, DS, and Ghosts don't release until 2020, man what has Sony been doing to us all these years at E3? (not even mentioning FF7R) And no wonder they are skipping it this year, my god. Delaystation in action. If all 3 of those are 2020, why do we even need a PS5 before 2021?
Is Shenmue 3 still due out in 2019? And BG&E2?
Sure, 2019 on PS4 was always going to be hard pressed to live up to 2018 with GoW, Spidey and RDR2, but if both TLOU2 and Ghosts aren't out until 2020 that just makes 2019 look really bad, and loses momentum that Sony has over MS and Nintendo. And gets those games too close to the PS5 launch. Bad optics. All the air will leave the building this year, 1 of those 2 has to release in September, I don't care which one.
I can see The Last of Us Part 2 coming to PS5 I just can I expect PS5 to be announced this year for 2020
@LiamCroft I still think about that game from time to time. Hopefully one day it will release.
2019 is the year of Deep Down!
Seriously though, are we only looking at Sony first party publishers and no PC ports? I ask because Square Enix has a couple of games, one in partnership with Platinum Games, scheduled to come out this year exclusive to the PS4 and PC. Now, these could go the way of Nier, but for now they’re console exclusives.
@get2sammyb Days Gone for me, not Dreams.. Dreams doesn't look interesting to me.. i really hope The last of us 2 release this year : finger crossed
My Predictions:
The Last of Us Part 2 (June or July 2019). Naughty Dog said the game was 50-60% complete at the end of 2017 so I don't think it would take them another year. They just don't want to repeat the same situation they had with Uncharted 4 delaying it 3 times. I think release date will most likely be announced in Feb or Mar 2019.
Ghost of Tsushima (Sept 2019)
Death Stranding (2020)
Something about Concrete Genie is giving me the same feeling as puppeteer... Which was one of my top 5 games all last gen. So Im definately going to buy it.
I love me some T-Sushi-ma (only way i will remember how to spell it)... Anything sucker punch brings out is day 1 for me. As much as I want a Cole comeback this game is just "wow" .
@rjejr IKR. Sony need release one of 3 major exclusive games : Ghost of Tsushima or The Last of Us 2 or Death Stranding
@ILoveVideoGames seem right to me.. i be shocked if TLOU 2 delay for little more times to polish it enough but TLOU 2 should be in June 2019 because first one released in June 2013 on ps3 version.. i think TLOU 2 is more likely release in October or early November 2019
"Hideo Kojima has said that Death Stranding will release before the Olympics".
Knowing him, that might mean the game will be released 30 seconds to midnight the day before the Olympics
@ResidentEvil2 Could be but I think since they are not at E3 The Last of Us Part 2 release around June could be in their plans to steal the hype of E3 and their fans not get disappointed for not showing up at E3.
I think TLOU 2 will come out this year, doesn't matter if it's so soon after Days Gone.
Death Stranding is possible because there's been a lot of noise about it's progress.
GoT definitely not this year, though saying the game looked "a liitle rough" is harsh considering some weren't even 100% convinced it was running on PS4 because of how good it looked.
Erica is definitely out this year cos a month back I got a look at the two boxarts that was been considered before giving my feedback. Perks of been part of the PlayStation Player's Lounge and all that
@rjejr As Sammy said earlier, Sony had a stacked 2013 on PS3 right before PS4 so they could do that again, since it didn't harm PS4's launch, in fact quite the opposite cos it give PS4 a lot of momentum.
@LiamCroft WiLD! <3
Concrete genie is this year. I have seen this e that I cant say due to nda but im 99% it's imminent say before May.
The only game that seems to be worth the purchase full stop this year so far is TLOU 2. Everything else just doesn't seem..... right? I mean, I'ma be buying most of these anyway, just because most of PS4's exclusives have been amazing this far, but I'm hot on these games like I was hype for Uncharted 4, Horizon, GoW, Spider-Man, etc. in year's prior.
Kojima didn't say which Olympics, to be fair
@ILoveVideoGames yep Sony should make Playstation Meeting in May to announce release date for TLOU 2 or Ghost of Tsushima
'Originally due out last year, the title (Days Gone) was delayed due to Red Dead Redemption'
OK Pushsquare. Could you tell where it was officially said that was a delay please? The only announcement about releasing last year was a casual conversation when Shu said it was part of other games releasing the same year and that was not a formal release date announcement.
Added video.
@JJ2 Sony's statement at the time: "We can confirm that Days Gone will now be releasing in 2019, and we will keep you updated on the launch date."
Wording implies that it was originally planned for 2018, don't you think? I think it's fairly obvious that it was aiming for last holiday, but I'm not sure what difference it makes either way!
@get2sammyb
Hi Sammy.
Can I ask a question please and hopefully not sound annoying? I know you guys must be very busy, but I just can understand why people insist Days Gone was delayed last year, moreover claiming it because if RDR2. Is there any fact or its all but rumour (What I think it is)?
It's a shame if it's just rumours that people get the feeling the game was delayed many time. Is there any official statement saying it was delayed last year?
I think the situation with Shy casual talk is similar to SLayden saying all the games dated for 2018 were going to be in the first half of the year and, therefore implying Spiderman was in the lot. When they finally announced Spiderman release date nobody claimed it was delayed though did they?
Same with Days Gone,. It's funny that Sony took so much care announcing games release but for Days Gone it should be clear there was some confusion
Am I missing half the article or something? This alphabetical list only goes up to "m" for me.
Ghost of Tsushima is the main one that I'm excited for on this list, though I'll likely become more excited for others once we get closer to the release dates.
@get2sammyb
Hi sorry I was typing and didn't see your reply. Trying to find this vid now
@get2sammyb
'Oh yeah – launch date. As promised and as revealed in our new trailer, we are excited to announce the release date for Days Gone:
22nd February, 2019.'
This is the announcement I got
https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.eu.playstation.com/2018/06/07/post-apocalyptic-open-world-ps4-exclusive-days-gone-release-date-confirmed/amp/
@get2sammyb
:now' seem to be the only hint and possibly a figure of speech
All big exclusives will drop by end of first fiscal period 2020. Bet on it. Id say all drop by xmas 19 except either DS or Ghosts.
@JJ2 It could be, but I think everyone was under the assumption that it was coming out in 2018 and like you say, Shu himself was saying the same thing. I'm pretty confident they were aiming for that Red Dead window before Red Dead's date was confirmed.
I mean, I guess it's speculation as it was never officially announced, but I'm just reading between the lines.
@get2sammyb
Thanks very much for reply.
I think it's exactly like you said 'everyone was under the assumption that it was coming out in 2018' and it was merely assuming, though I never took it for granted given there wasn't the usual formal announcement. Like you know, it was such a big deal to see '2018' in a trailer for other games that always got me skeptical about DG not having that.
I know it doesn't really mater now but that sort of confusion is giving more way for gamers entitlement, to put it that way.
Forgive me for being annoying but I still think Sony was never confident enough to announce Days Gone formally for 2018 in a trailer or on any written form. Cheers
@AdamNovice "Sony had a stacked 2013 on PS3"
I'm ok w/ a stacked year right before a new console. If Ghosts came out in June, TLoU2 in Sept and PS5 in Nov of this year, I'm fine with that. That's some great momentum built on top of last year with GoW winning GOTY. Especially if PS5 can play PS4 game discs, or dame downloads, or both. With or without 4k enhancements.
But, w/ 2018 having some great games in GoW, Spidey and RDR2, then to say 2019 will have Days Gone, Dreams and Concrete Genie, then early 2020 will have TLoU2 and Ghosts summer then PS5 that holiday, well that's just too much of a let down for me in 2019.
If that's the case, a so-so 2019 for a great 2020, the MS spies will knwo and MS will try to take advantage w/ Xbox 2 Scarlett. And Nintnedo is doing ok w/ Switch, w/ perhaps some nice additions in Metroid Prime 4 and Animal Crossing and a new mainline Poekmon game this year. Maybe Bayonetta 3. Then who knows what they'll have in 2020.
I understand PS4 is doing fine now so there's seemingly no rush for PS5, but MS and Nintneod are still competition and not standing still. Putting off PS5 until 2020 may be ok, but then they need to keep some big games coming in 2019, and those big games are TLoU2 and Ghosts.
Put another way - all anybody is going to be talking about in 2019 is TLoU2, Ghosts and PS5 whether they come out this year or not. No matter what games Sony does put out this year the focus is on those games and that next device. Sony having an entire year like that gives too much of an opportunity for their competition I think. MS to talk up hardware, Nintneod to talk up new games.
It's going to be a really long slog of 2019 if Sony just keeps saying "wait until 2020" for 12 long months.
last year sony releases 3 aaa games, 1 remake, 1 playlink, 6 psvr games
tlou2 started development in 2016 with only half of the naughtydog working as of dec 2017 is 60% done, after lost legacy (2017) the whole team is working on the remaining 40%
@Lekzie1 Development on TLOU2 right after the release of TLOU in 2014, they have two teams at ND, kinda. They just shift people around, but they have been working on it for a while.
@Octane more like pre-production in 2014, druckman is workin with uncharted 4 until 2016, full development started after uc4 with the half of the naughty dog workin on it, the other half is workin with lost legacy, dec2017 60% completion, late 2017-present naughty dog is workin with the remaining 40%,
2016-2017 = 60%
2018-present = 40%
@Lekzie1 Well, if they can do 30% a year, that means there's only 10% left for this year.
@Octane yeah and the major difference is last year the whole team is workin on it and by the looks of it naughty dog is now preparing to work on a new ip an open world scifi game, the game must be on playtesting now they even hiring for the mp mode since they are busy on a new game
@Octane @Lekzie1 While I agree a larger proportion of the studio moved onto TLOU 2 after Lost Legacy, I think a reasonable amount of staff started work on the new IP for the PS5. Mostly going to be R&D and design/writing people while the rest work on putting TLOU 2 together.
Definitely think the extra staff could speed them up to get it released later this year though.
Hope you're right about the sci-fi theme.
@BearsEatBeets @Lekzie1 Since we aren't getting a single player Star Wars game anytime soon, I'd love to see what ND can come up with.
Pretty excited about Death Stranding. We may not know much about the game itself but that is the best part about it, hopefully we're getting something that feels fresh (much like BotW) instead of derivative (like 90% of the games these days do). Too bad last time Kojima tried something other than Metal Gear we ended up with ZoE, which is boring and repetitive. Regardless, I still have high hopes for this game.
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