Grumblevolcano

If Jim Ryan really wanted PSVR2 to succeed, its proper launch (i.e. purchasable outside Playstation Direct) wouldn't have been the same day as TotK.

If such a game exists, I don't think it would be released until 2025/2026 which is way too far in the future to be in the showcase. If Sony's learned from others, this showcase should be all about 2023 with some 2024 reveals.

I still don't see it happening. Microsoft forcing parity between Series X and S for a Series X|S version to exist keeps being cited as the problem and mid gen revisions won't change that.

@MemSec Front Mission 3 remake was announced for Switch back in September so it's safe to assume it'll come to PS4 around 6 months after the Switch version (Front Mission 1st remake released in November so a PS4 release in May would mean 6 months timed exclusivity).

@UltimateOtaku91 Maybe the remake is closer to what Square has been doing with FFVII than a traditional remake?

@Rob_230 Licensed music made me think Beat Saber PSVR2 release date. Its existence and the GT7 update were the big PSVR2 announcements from Sony's CES event.

Nice that Sony is finally breaking the silence on the future of Playstation. Hopefully there's a lot of single player games present.

@Shinnok789 Sony released a load of games on PC last year with most of them happening in August - November meanwhile this year so far only got 2 (Returnal, TLoU Part 1) so I feel there'll be a load announced for later in the year. My guess would be something like:

• June - Factions 2
• August - Ghost of Tsushima
• September - GT7, HFW
• October - Rift Apart
• November - Demon's Souls

Then early 2024 having GoW Ragnarok and TLoU Part 2.

@Kidfried It also happened with Game Pass like how Diofield Chronicle was announced to come in January and then disappeared.

@NEStalgia Not quite, what I figure would happen is:

• EU approves deal -> Sony does a huge showcase soon afterwards to try and convince people that PS5 is still worth owning, even with Microsoft owning CoD
• EU blocks deal -> Sony decide they don't need a showcase and dripfeed info about PS5's future throughout the year instead (e.g. Geoff gets Spider-Man 2 and Factions 2 gameplay reveals, 3rd party State of Play like the one in June last year, FFVII Rebirth State of Play)

They definitely wouldn't announce a showcase before May 22nd. While CMA did end up ignoring Sony's concerns, the end result was still what Sony wanted. Hence Sony wouldn't want to give the EU any fuel to side with Microsoft.

@KaijuKaiser I think what would've benefited the 1st party lineup the most last year is if Horizon Forbidden West was delayed to June (NG+ update being on the disc). More consistent 1st party lineup but also the game wouldn't have suffered from being so close to Elden Ring.

At this point the mythical PS Showcase that keeps getting brought up feels about as likely as Mother 3 being localized outside Japan for Switch or Nintendo deciding to bring back F-Zero.

@NEStalgia It's very concerning just how much focus Sony is giving to live service even though there's a big live service graveyard forming from all the games shutdown recently. It almost feels like in around 10 years time there'll be a Push Square article with a headline like "Epic Games acquires Sony Interactive Entertainment to work on Fortnite" because Sony's live service push didn't work.

I'd honestly say recently NSO has become the best of the bunch though I would've much preferred for Nintendo to have gone the VC route like they did with Wii, 3DS and Wii U instead. GB/GBC/GBA being added back in February improved my opinion of the service though I wish the pace of games added was quicker.

@4kgk2 The European Commission response is the most important of the 3 (if they approve then the UK will likely cave) so I wouldn't exactly say the deal is dead yet, just less likely to happen than before as the EU is usually even more serious than the UK about this kind of stuff. I do agree with @thefourfoldroot1 that this is definitely a case of looking weak to try and convince the EC to approve.

If it's real and releasing in Q4 2024, Sony wouldn't announce it until Q3 2024. The PS4 Pro had 2 month gap between announcement and release.

But I don't think PS5 Pro is real, there's not the same situation that PS4 was in. There's no mainstream equivalent to the rise of 4KTVs and unlike PSVR1, Sony's treating PSVR2 like an afterthought that's going to be abandoned in around a year.

I think it all comes down to at what point (if at all) regulators stop Microsoft's neverending acquisition spree. If Activision is blocked and the same happens for other acquisitions Microsoft tries to make, I think the tried and true model of buying games will be the future. If however regulators let Microsoft do whatever then Microsoft will force Game Pass to be the future.

@get2sammyb In December, it was given a more precise "Fall 2023" release window.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/12/marvels-spider-man-2-ps5-will-officially-release-fall-2023-sony-confirms

I do agree with the comments that this may be delayed to early 2024 though. Widening of release windows usually means a delay and the current fiscal year is a larger release window than Fall 2023. Most recent example that comes to mind is the upcoming Forza Motorsport, went from "Spring 2023" to "2023".

Jim Ryan is bad but this is way more pathetic.

@Americansamurai1 I don't think we'll get a showcase in May, rather news spread out like what happened in October. Something like 3rd party State of Play in May, Geoff gets the debut for Factions 2 and Spider-Man 2 gameplay in June alongside some PC ports, FFVII Rebirth focused State of Play in August, etc.

@thefourfoldroot1 There's the reality that the chance of new live service success is really low nowadays as people have settled into to ones that have been around for awhile. People expecting that Sony will successfully end up with a Fortnite-scale live service success that'll make up for Microsoft owning CoD are likely in for a disappointment.

@bkeswick Based on official info provided by Sony provided so far, the vast majority of upcoming PS Studios games are live service hence why people are concerned that Sony going all in on live service leaving traditional single player behind.

If the full picture is more of a balance then Sony has poorly communicated about the future. In that outcome, a showcase announcing more traditional single player 1st party games would do a lot to ease concerns about the future of PS.

With Sony not doing a showcase at all since September 2021, it seems more clear why Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine were announced so early. Shame though, would've been cool to have had Sony follow Nintendo's model of mostly announcing games less than a year before launch (a lot of the time it being up to 6 months before launch).

I think it all comes down to the Activision acquisition. A gigantic Playstation showcase seems like a suitable response to the acquisition going through (Sony will want to keep the attention on Playstation) but if the acquisition gets blocked by the CMA and/or EC, I could see Sony going for a 3rd party focused State of Play instead like last year so that if the outcome changed in the future Sony would still have enough content for a gigantic Playstation showcase.

@NEStalgia The first time Sony mentioned a massive live service focus for the future of Playstation Studios was soon after Microsoft announced the Activision acquisition.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/01/playstation-studios-is-developing-several-live-service-games

So Sony's gigantic live service push seems to be directly correlated to Microsoft getting away with a neverending acquisition spree. The concept of "what happens if we lose something like Fortnite, CoD or GTA to Microsoft?" probably came up after the Bethesda acquisition.

So in the end the SSD did nothing for game sizes, we'll probably be seeing a situation in the near future that the PS5/Series X only holds like 3 games with the internal storage.

At least the Switch still does plenty of real physical versions so internal storage is less important.

@UltimateOtaku91 I think it was the CoD PS marketing and exclusivity deal that caused Sony killed off all their FPS/TPS franchises.

This announcement very much has a Nintendo's promotion of Smash Ultimate feel to it. Like the Playstation Showcase everyone's been waiting for ends up happening but the entire 2nd half of it is going extremely in depth with FFXVI.

I wonder if the PS/Xbox physical versions will be actual physical versions. They already revealed the Switch version to be a download code in box type situation.

Odd that Spider-Man (2018) is leaving the service, you'd have thought 1st party games would've stayed indefinitely.

For those disappointed it's not a Playstation Showcase, a showcase is probably after May 22nd (EC decision day). Sony's share price will no doubt plummet if both the CMA and EC approve the Activision acquisition so in the outcome that does happen, the showcase would probably act to make share prices rebound.

@Mauzuri Much like PS5 hardware bundles with a download code helped HFW and GoW Ragnarok get high in the charts, there's a recent Switch bundle with a Mario Odyssey download code and some Mario movie stickers.

If real, this is probably aimed at Japan in time for FFVII Rebirth (perhaps a launch title for this device).

So it seems only ports and remasters are safe from microtransactions at this point. Remakes and new games are all filled with them.

@NEStalgia It feels that way about Sony's future. That instead of those epic single player experiences that PS fans love, you get TV shows/movies and a live service companion game.

I don't like this trend of TV shows/movies replacing games. Like RDR1 isn't even playable on PS4/PS5 or Switch and both systems have huge 7th gen catalogs.

@Shadcai Same as the physical version price, £64.99. All the preorders are already up on the Switch eshop.

Maybe a device to make the PSVR2 headset work with PC and in exchange Valve ports Half-Life Alyx to PSVR2?

I feel retro has less meaning when applied to internet based consoles. Is it really retro when you can easily buy games on the original hardware without resorting to buying preowned? I don't know.

Whether it is or not, what I'm thankful for is that the massive backlash against Jim Ryan shutting down the stores forced him to reverse course.

Judging by the existence of yesterday's article about PSVR2, Sony should really have a big segment in the next showcase on PSVR2 software if they're actually taking the platform seriously.

I think next up will be TLoU2 to prepare PC players for Factions 2. Outside that, in no particular order I think these will come to PC this year:

• Ghost of Tsushima
• Demon's Souls (PS5 remake)
• Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Gran Turismo 7
• A bunch of unannounced live service games

GoW Ragnarok would probably be an early 2024 PC release.

@stvevan It would be foolish to assume FF16 is coming to Xbox when FF7 Remake is almost 3 years old and still isn't on Xbox. PC release for FF16 however is likely in 2024 given the 6 month exclusivity window and what exclusivity windows meant for FF7 Remake.

Interesting, the Live a Live DLC came to Theatrhythm earlier this month and now the remake is coming to PS/Steam in April. Similar setup has happened with FF1-6 via the Pixel Remaster Collection. Would be cool if there was more of this like for example:

• 2nd Nier DLC pack -> Nier Replicant for Switch
• 2 Chrono DLC packs close together (May 17th and June 7th) -> Chrono Trigger for Switch/PS
• Octopath Traveler DLC pack -> Octopath Traveler for PS
• Xenogears DLC pack -> Xenogears for Switch/PS

Switch must be a double edged sword for new racing games. On the one hand there's a gigantic potential playerbase but on the other hand there's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that seems to pretty much kill off every other racing game on the platform, especially since the Booster Course Pass was announced.

It feels like Square Enix are waiting for an event in April to reveal the release date. Could be a Direct (Nintendo's being very secretive about TotK even with the 10 minute gameplay yesterday), State of Play/Playstation Showcase (Sony's being very secretive about Burning Shores) or a FF/Square Enix event?

Following on from this, Microsoft completely got rid of the £1/$1 Game Pass Ultimate trial/upgrade deal that cropped up a lot over the past 4 years. You used to be able to upgrade up to 3 years of Gold to Ultimate or just try out Ultimate for a month for £1/$1 but that is no more.

It's been obvious for awhile now but this is proof that Game Pass will get more expensive because of this acquisition. The next stages will probably be Microsoft ditching Gold resulting in having to have Ultimate to play games that aren't FTP online and a general price increase to Game Pass.

I know this is a Playstation site but a Minish Cap remake for Switch would be nice.

@rjejr It's a plot thing, if Prime 4's story continues on from Prime 3's ending I think it's likely they want Prime 1-3 on Switch before Prime 4 launches. So I figure they'd do something like 1 of these 2 outcomes:

Outcome 1 (gap of around 6 months)

• Prime 1 (February/March 2023)
• Prime 2 (September 2023)
• Prime 3 (Early 2024)
• Prime 4 (Fall 2024)

Outcome 2 (gap of around 3 months)

• Prime 1 (February/March 2023)
• Prime 2 (June 2023)
• Prime 3 (September 2023)
• Prime 4 (Early 2024)

@Dezzy70 @rjejr I think September will be given to Metroid, either Prime 2 Remastered or Prime 3 Remastered (in the latter case Prime 2 Remastered being shadow dropped in June).