There might not be an E3 this year but with next-gen consoles coming later this year, there have still been some huge digital events. Today, Sony held its PS5 reveal event, going beyond tech specs and giving us a good look at the games and the console itself.
Grand Theft Auto V being the first game shown may seem like a joke at first, but apparently the game is being ‘expanded and enhanced' for next-gen consoles. Specific details are thin, but we do know that the voice actors for the three main characters in GTA V's campaign did extra work post-launch, making it clear that an expansion was scrapped at some point. Perhaps that content is being repurposed here for the next-gen release of Grand Theft Auto V. The new version will release in 2021.
Insomniac Games is returning to the Marvel universe this year with Spider-Man: Miles Morales. We still need more specifics, but additional announcements shouldn't be too far off, as the game is scheduled to come in Holiday 2020.
Gran Turismo returns for next-gen. Plenty of gameplay is shown in the trailer above, so you can get a good idea of what GT 7 will look like on PS5 and some of the new changes coming.
Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart unfortunately doesn't have a release date but a lot of gameplay was shown, indicating that development is quite far on. Insomniac Games will be leveraging the enhanced haptic feedback of the PS5's DualSense controller, Ray-Traced reflections can be found on Clank and some other surfaces. Finally, the SSD allows for inter-dimensional travel, removing loading screens and allowing instant jumping between worlds.
The team at Luminous Productions is working on Project Athia. This is a PS5 exclusive, but outside of that, not much is known. You can see some good gameplay capture in the trailer though.
Annapurna Interactive is planning to tug on our heartstrings once again with Stray, a game all about a cat living amongst robots.
Returnal is one of the most interesting trailers shown, taking the Live-Die-Repeat concept and throwing in some crazy planet shifting for good measure. This particular title is scheduled to arrive exclusively on PS5 in 2021.
Sumo Digital returns to PlayStation with Sackboy: A Big Adventure. This game of course stars Sackboy from Little Big Planet in his own platforming adventure. Judging by some of the gameplay, there will also be some multiplayer/co-op levels too.
Lucid Games is releasing Destruction AllStars on PS5, an arena vehicle brawler.
Ember Lab, best known as a studio of animation experts, is bringing Kena: Bridge of Spirits to next-gen. This is an adventure game through and through, but unfortunately, there is no release date just yet.
The studio Ko_Op is bringing Goodbye Volcano High to PS5 in 2021, featuring teenage dinosaurs and their high school journey. The trailer has some Life is Strange vibes, but we can't really say much more beyond that.
The Oddworld franchise returns, this time with Oddworld: Soulstorm. This is likely going to end up being a multi-platform title but for now, you can check out some of the gameplay in the trailer above. No release date was announced during the stream.
Shinji Mikami's studio, Tango Gameworks, returned to Sony's stage to show off Ghostwire: Tokyo once again, this time with gameplay footage. The game is coming to PS5 in 2021.
Jett: The Far Shore is coming in Holiday 2020 as one of the PlayStation 5's launch games.
Just like the above, this is also going to be a launch/launch-window title for the PS5. Godfall is being published by Gearbox Studios and looks to be a very glossy action RPG/loot-hoarder.
Solar Ash is the next game from the folks behind Hyperlight Drifter. So far, it looks great, but it'll be a while until we get our hands on it. This one is due out in 2021.
One of the big surprises of this evening's reveal was undoubtedly Hitman 3. The ‘dramatic conclusion' to the trilogy that started with the 2016 reboot will take place in this game, which is described as a more intimate journey with Agent 47.
Astrobot was praised as one of the best PSVR exclusives just a couple of years ago and now, Astro is returning in a spin-off platformer called Astro's Playroom. No release date has been given just yet, but this will be a PS5 exclusive.
Little Devil Inside is the latest game from the studio ‘Neostream'. No release date has been given yet but check out the trailer above for a quick look at it.
It wouldn't be a console reveal event if a sports game wasn't involved. NBA 2K21 is coming later this year, so some quick alpha footage of New Orleans Pelicans rookie, Zion Williamson, sweating it out in the gym was thrown together. It looks to be the most graphically impressive NBA 2K game since 2K14.
Bugsnax is the latest game from the indie team behind Octodad. It is also another launch-window game, coming to PS5 in ‘Holiday 2020'.
We've known for a long time now that Bluepoint is working on another huge remake for Sony. Now we know exactly what it is- From Software's classic, Demon's Souls is returning in remade form for the PlayStation 5. There is no release date yet though, so we'll need to keep an eye out for more news.
Resident Evil 8 is official and will be coming in 2021. Ethan from RE 7 is returning and Chris also makes an appearance. This time around, the game is set in a spooky village, which you can get a good look at in the somewhat mind-bending trailer above.
Pragmata is the most ‘far out' game that was shown today, with a release window set for 2022.
It might not be specifically called Horizon Zero Dawn 2, but make no mistake, Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to Sony's 2017 hit open world game. There is no release date yet, but Aloy will be continuing her journey, this time with more exploration, including vast underwater areas.
Finally, after months and months of waiting, we can finally see what the PlayStation 5 console looks like… and surprise- there are two different versions. The PS5 will launch with a standard version containing a 4K Blu-Ray disc drive and a separate, presumably cheaper ‘Digital Only' version. Pricing and exact release dates are still unknown.
KitGuru Says: Sony certainly raised the bar and provided a more exciting game reveal compared to May's episode of Inside Xbox. Now, the ball is in Microsoft's court with its July first-party games reveal coming up.