Perhaps unsurprisingly, PlayStation’s social media is already being peppered by disgruntled fans, desperate for the format holder to step up its livestream game. “I hope you watched the showcase,” one fan wrote. “This is what we want.” Another added: “Bring us a showcase this good.” One more simply settled for: “Learn from [the] Xbox Showcase, Sony.”
Of course, this is the kind of overly reactive silliness that we’ve come to expect from social media, but it does present questions for PlayStation as it pushes forward deeper into the generation. Sony has, in recent years, changed its strategy to focus on imminent releases: its big games from the recent State of Play, the likes of Concord and Astro Bot, are due out within three months. LEGO Horizon Adventures and Until Dawn don’t currently have dates, but aren’t expected to be too far behind.
Microsoft, on the other hand, spent a lot of time re-treading old ground today: Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, and more were all first revealed several years ago; Gears of War: E-Day, the big closing reveal, will likely show up at several more shows.
Sony, in the past, was criticised heavily for revealing games too early into development; now it finds itself underfire for not following that same philosophy. It’s a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, then – but ultimately, as we noted, the reception doesn’t lie. PlayStation hasn’t put together a universally praised presentation for quite a while, and at some point, that will need to change.
