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Sony hosted its 2023 PlayStation Showcase today, spotlighting what’s to come for the platform in the future. Both first and third-party games were shown off, some set for the near future, and others still a ways off.
It was an interesting showcase, all things considered. The third-party developers were pretty varied and interesting; seeing labels like Finji up alongside the likes of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a treat, and there were a few surprises, like the next project from the Gris team.
Still, some of the heavy hitters were known quantities, like Street Fighter 6 or Final Fantasy XVI, or reveals that seem fairly far-off, like Bungie’s revival of Marathon. Even though the Spidey gameplay reveal was admittedly rad, it was strange to not see a date at the end.
So that’s my main takeaway: Sony has some neat stuff, in the hopefully-near future. There was a lot of multiplayer games too, and what felt like a reminder of Bungie’s status as a Sony studio with two big reveals in one show. Here’s the full rundown.
Everything shown at the PlayStation Showcase 2023
- The show kicks off with Fairgame$, or I think that’s how you stylize it. It’s a new game from Haven, Jade Raymond’s studio that was picked up by Sony last year. It was mostly a tone-setting trailer, but the tone seems to be techno cyber-heist.
- Helldivers 2 gets an appropriately themed reveal for this third-person shooter follow-up. The shift in perspective is interesting, but dang, this new entry does look gorgeous. That’s headed to PC and PS5 this year.
- Magic-shooter Immortals of Aveum shows off some more spell-flinging action. You know, the magical military thing is kind of goofy, in a fun way. That’s set for July 20.
- 505 and One More Level show off Ghostrunner 2, which just looks real neat. Nothing else much to say there. Felt like Ghostrunner was a bit underrated, and this new entry looks fast, gorgeous, and enjoyable. That arrives sometime in 2023.
- Going into this showcase, I didn’t know what Phantom Blade Zero is, or even if there is another Phantom Blade I don’t know about, but this looks fantastic. Sekiro fans should be writing this one down.
- From Giant Squid, which you may know from The Pathless or Abzu, comes another astonishingly good-looking game: Sword of the Sea. The sand-surfing on top of a sword is exquisite.
- Puzzle fans get another entry in the Talos series, as The Talos Principle II has been announced. The first had some really neat puzzles, so I’m curious what the team has in store for its release in 2023.
- Ready to cry in the middle of a showcase? Because Gris developer Nomada Studio is here with Neva, and this looks just as gorgeous and heartbreaking in just its trailer. It’s arriving sometime in 2024.
- Cats! Quests! Pirates? Fans of all three and more will probably find something to like in Cat Quest: Pirates of the Purribean. Its arriving sometime in 2024.
- Square Enix shows up for something a little different: a party shooter called Foamstars, that’s all about spraying foam and making your own terrain with it. No date, but it’s coming to both PS4 and PS5.
- The Plucky Squire‘s storybook aesthetic is still adorable as ever. It’s still aiming for a 2023 launch.
- The heist sim with mind-boggling terrain manipulation is coming to PlayStation 5. Teardown is a really fascinating game, and PlayStation 5 owners will get to stage their own voxel-robberies this year.
- Kept ya waiting, huh? After many rumors and reports, there is indeed a new version of Snake Eater on the way. Not sure what the triangle entails. Delta? Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Sure. That’s in development.
- We also got confirmation that Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1 will bring the first three Solid games (MGS, Sons of Liberty, and Snake Eater) to PS5 this autumn.
- Dreamlit showed off some footage of Towers of Aghasba, which looks like a giant open-world fantasy adventure. It’s arriving with some big animal pals sometime in 2024.
- Square Enix is back, this time with the launch trailer for Final Fantasy XVI. It’s not far off now from its June 22 release date, either.
- Alan Wake 2 will make it just in time for Halloween, as the writer’s journey picks up a new playable character and locks in an October 17 release date. It’s also going digital only.
- Another October release follows right after, as Assassin’s Creed Mirage sets a date for October 12. It looks like a return to the roots for the series.
- Night in the Woods fans have something to look forward to in Revenant Hill, the new game from Finji. It looks gorgeous!
- Granblue Fantasy: Relink shows off some more characters and confirms its winter 2023 global release window.
- Street Fighter 6 shows off more of its story and cutscenes, which do seem to be a big bullet point for this entry. After the recent open beta, I’m just eager to get some more matches in. That’s arriving soon, on June 2.
- Ultros keeps the “new game with a fascinating look” streak going, as its a side-scrolling action game with some incredible colors and designs.
- A trailer for Tower of Fantasy is here, and I’m not quite sure what’s happening. It looks gorgeous, but I also know very little about Tower of Fantasy. The robot-plant-lady boss looks kinda sick, though.
- Sound the horns and rejoice in the streets: here is your reminder that yes, Dragon’s Dogma II is real and happening. We get some gameplay, some cutscenes, and some really exciting teases for what’s in store here. No date or anything, but a nice surprise to see.
- Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted 2 is here, for those who would like more scary animatronics. That’s arriving sometime in late 2023.
- Here comes the PS VR2 block, starting with a banger: Resident Evil 4 is getting a VR mode. To be clear, this looks like the RE 4 remake, and in PS VR2, so it’s RE4 Remake VR2. A little confusing, but still neat. No date, as it’s just confirmed to be in development.
- Here’s Arizona Sunshine II, if you want irreverent zombie shooting in VR. I mostly just had a bizarre moment of neurons firing, remembering the first Arizona Sunshine. That arrives sometime this year.
- Crossfire is keeping on, with a VR game called Sierra Squad on the way. No date for that yet.
- Synapse is a dreamlike shooter that feels like Inception and Superhot crossed the streams. It’s fun to watch the trailer player flip boxes and barrels around, though. That’s out July 4.
- Beat Saber is out now on PS VR2, as is a pack of Queen’s music that includes some Queen visuals. Please, don’t stop me now.
- We exit the VR block into Bungie’s reveal of a Marathon revival. The studio is launching its first new game in some time, a sci-fi extraction shooter that has its roots in a classic franchise for the company. I’m already very intrigued by the look of this game, if nothing else.
- Bungie also makes a big reveal: Nathan Fillion is returning to Destiny 2 for The Final Shape. A showcase is set for August 22 to share more.
- Sony studio Firesprite reveals Concord with a space-y trailer. That’s headed to PS5 and PC in 2024.
- And now for something completely different: a trailer for the Gran Turismo movie. It’s called Gran Turismo, and it hits theaters in August.
- Jim Ryan pops back on to close the showcase out with a few announcements ahead of the final reveal. Project Q is a dedicated handheld device for streaming remote play from your PlayStation 5 console, and Sony’s also rolling out some PlayStation ear buds.
- Lastly, we close things out with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. It’s still set for a fall 2023 window, and today we got to see a lot of gameplay, ranging from Spidey-swapping and Web Wing gliding to Peter’s new Symbiote skills, which seem to be giving him a bit of an attitude problem.
That’s it for the PlayStation Showcase 2023. Let us know what you thought of the show down below!
