The next PlayStation State of Play broadcast is set for Friday morning. State of Play Day is always a time of great excitement and anticipation for what may be announced. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about what may, or may not, come up during the show.
What do we actually know?
PlayStation has said that the show will feature updates and announcements from third-party developers and publishers. The back half of the show, the part that PlayStation typically reserves for its Feature Presentation, will focus on the PlayStation VR2.
As information on a State of Play broadcast goes, that’s honestly quite vague. Sony has made a habit of being very clear about what fans should and should not expect from each broadcast. A line to the effect of “We will not be talking about (Anticipated First Party Exclusive) in this broadcast” has been appended to the announcement of every new State of Play. The reason Sony has adopted this policy is to better manage the expectations of a social media fanbase prone to getting itself sideways with hype.
This time, however, no such message accompanied the announcement. Does that mean all bets are off? No, probably not. But it does allow us to make a few educated guesses as to what we should expect.
Into the speculation zone
PlayStation VR2
What to expect from the PlayStation VR2 State of Play? My expectation is a launch lineup of some description. If not a release date, then I’d expect at least a release window. The current expectation is that Sony’s revised VR headset will launch in early 2023. While we really only know about one game so far, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, PlayStation has said that it wants to have 20 games ready to launch with the new device.
That’s a lot of games for a launch window. What we don’t know is how many of them will be ports of VR titles on other platforms, like Oculus or the Vive, though it’s fair to expect a few of them will be. What will be interesting to see is if PlayStation will roll out VR spin-offs of any other first-party IP. Does Horizon: Call of the Mountain indicate Sony wants to use its library of recognisable games and characters to drive interest in the PSVR? I expect we’re about to find out.
Beyond that, the question this State of Play broadcast needs to answer is: Will the PlayStation VR2 be meaningfully different from the original? Can it stand on its own in a field full of competing headsets and make a stronger argument for itself than the more prototypal PlayStation VR?
Third-party publishers
Given that Papa Geoff Keighley has locked in a truly dumbfounding number of publishers for his Summer Game Fest event next week, I find it hard to believe that any third-party publisher would want to spill all their secrets just yet.
Unless they’re bringing something to the PlayStation as an exclusive, my expectation here is we’ll see updates around existing games. I also expect new announcements from smaller studios and probably a few indies. If larger publishers turn up, I expect it will be to drop teasers for games they plan to talk about at Summer Game Fest next week. A Call of Duty tease here. A Skull and Bones foreshadow there.
Do I expect it to have any classic PlayStation E3 bombshells? I don’t think so. Sony could surprise us with a God of War Ragnarok release date, I suppose, but I also think that’s the kind of thing that gets its own broadcast, similar to Horizon: Forbidden West.
Temper your expectations
If you’re going in expecting tomorrow’s State of Play to be a return to the non-stop hit parade of PlayStation’s E3 era, I think you’ll be disappointed. Temper your expectations, go in with the understanding that this is probably going to be a showreel for a piece of hardware releasing ahead of Christmas, and you’ll probably have a nice time.
Keen, as always, for your take! Do you miss the spectacle of the old PlayStation E3 showcase? Are you keen on the PlayStation VR2 or did the original tell you everything you needed to know? Sound off in the comments below and let us know.
Leave a Reply