Hot on the heels of Xbox’s Developer Direct earlier this month, PlayStation has added its own State of Play showcase to the calendar. Today’s State of Play is rumored to feature a bunch of updates on games like Death Stranding 2 and Judas as well as new announcements, one of which might involve Sonic the Hedgehog and his gun-wielding friend.
Sony’s last State of Play was in September 2023 and went head-to-head with a Nintendo Direct that same day. It was a short affair, lasting about 20 minutes, but expect today’s presentation to be around 40.
Silent Hill and projects from Hideo Kojima dominated the presentation. Konami stealth dropped a brand-new game, Silent Hill: The Short Message, and showed off a new trailer for Silent Hill 2. But the biggest news came from Kojima, showing off an extended trailer for Death Stranding 2 and announcing a brand-new IP he’s working on with Sony that, according to Kojima, is “the culmination of my work.”
Feb 7
Sean Hollister
Watch 11 minutes of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gameplay features — and the final trailer
Cosmo Canyon. Nibelheim. Dolphin racing. Vincent Valentine. A one-winged Sephiroth. Marlene’s dad Dyne. Mini-game after mini-game after mini-game to play. “The world will be saved, but will you?” asks the game’s trailer, with almost zero subtlety that the events of this game will determine Aerith’s infamous fate.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is coming February 29th, and both Sony and Square Enix want to make damn sure that fans know this game is a can’t-miss event — even though it’s not the conclusion to the remake of Final Fantasy VII and will have another game following it.
Read Article >
Feb 6
Sean Hollister
The FFVII Rebirth playable demo is now live.
We heard it was coming, and Sony says it’s out today. Here it is. don’t download the old Remake demo by accident!
You can replay Sony’s entire video reveal now: it goes over loads of activities and regions to expect from the game, including Junon, Corel, Costa Del Sol, Cosmo Canyon, and Shinra Manor. Apparently, the game will “ultimately decide Aerith’s fate.”
Update: The demo is now live.
Feb 6
Sean Hollister
Glad to see Final Fantasy VII’s graphics are still up to snuff!
I kid — these blocky homages to the original game are just for unlockables and mini-games. FFVII Rebirth will have your choice of 4K or 60fps modes.
1/3
Feb 6
Sean Hollister
Watch Sony’s special Final Fantasy VII Rebirth livestream right here.
What to expect from today’s State of Play:
☄️”The latest trailer highlighting the charms of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”
☄️”A special gameplay video showing how the game has been designed with new footage”
☄️A demo that lets you play Cloud or Sephiroth and reportedly explore the world map.
Full game’s out February 29th, stream’s embedded below!
Feb 6
Sean Hollister
Sony just let slip a Final Fantasy VII Rebirth playable demo is imminent
Image: Square Enix
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is nearly here. It’s coming February 29th, and yes, we will find out what happens to Aerith unless the game’s producer was playing us. But we won’t have to wait that long to get a taste, because Sony will release a playable demo as soon as tomorrow, February 6th.
That’s the word from Wario64, who spotted a trailer for the demo on PlayStation Network, one you can watch below — and the news that the demo will let you “step into the shoes of either Cloud or Sephiroth during the Nibelheim episode.”
Read Article >
Jan 31
Sean Hollister
PHYSINT is the working title of Hideo Kojima’s new not-a-Metal-Gear game.
In case you missed the tease at the end of Sony’s State of Play, Kojima revealed he’s got a “next-generation action espionage” game in development — and then the entire livestream ended by zooming out to show the “PHYSINT” logo you see below. We checked, and it’s not trademarked, despite the TM sign you see. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long to find out what it means.
Jan 31
Ash Parrish
Konami just stealth launched a Silent Hill game
Image: Konami
Silent Hill, the town in desperate need of a city council or something, showed up during PlayStation’s State of Play in a big way with two new trailers and a stealth drop of a new free-to-play game.
The first game was the debut of Silent Hill: The Short Message, an all-new entry in the Silent Hill franchise. According to PlayStation’s blog, The Short Message is a short, experimental free-to-play game meant to introduce newcomers to the joys of that idyllic foggy city. Though the name was only just revealed, details on The Short Message including screenshots and the names of the main characters — Anita and Maya — were leaked in 2022. Based on the trailer below, the leaks were accurate.
Read Article >
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
And one more thing (from Kojima).
As if Death Stranding 2 and OD weren’t enough, Kojima confirmed he’s working on a new IP with Sony, described as a “next-generation action espionage” game. So, you know, Metal Gear Solid. Production won’t begin until after DS2 launches in 2025. “I am confident that this title will be the culmination of my work,” Kojima says.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
Death Stranding 2’s new trailer is delightfully disturbing
The sequel to Death Stranding is shaping up to be just as strange as the original. At its State of Play showcase today, Sony showed off a new trailer for the game that... starts out with a particularly disturbing bit of surgery. The lengthy clip features a whole bunch of new locations outside of the US, as well as the return of a villain who has been given a Joker-esque makeover. And yes, the baby makes an appearance — along with a new talking doll.
The sequel also has an official title now: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. It’s due to launch in 2025. Here’s the premise:
Read Article >
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
The video game remakes just keep coming.
2024 has already been packed with them, thanks to The Last of Us Part II, Another Code, and Persona 3, among others. Now, we can add the 2015 horror game Until Dawn to that list. The new version has been rebuilt for both PC and PS5 and is due to launch this year.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
A deeper look at Team Ninja’s latest.
We already knew that Rise of the Ronin was coming out on the PS5 on March 22nd, but here’s another look at the action RPG, with a heavy focus on the actual gameplay at its core.
Jan 31
Ash Parrish
Metro awakens in VR.
Metro Exodus, the post-apocalyptic first-person shooter from Deep Silver, is getting a VR spinoff that looks very creepy. It’s called Metro Awakening, and it’s coming to the PSVR 2 later this year.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
Here comes Judas.
It’s been well over a year since Ken Levine’s Ghost Story studio revealed its first project, a narrative shooter called Judas, so it’s about time we got a new trailer that gave a better sense of what the sci-fi story is all about. My main takeaway? It looks weird as hell. (Mostly in a good way.) Judas still doesn’t have a release date, and it’s coming to Xbox and PC as well as the PS5.
According to Ghost Story, the game takes place:
aboard the Mayflower, a spacefaring city whose citizens are trained to tear each other apart for even the most minor infractions, and where machines control every aspect of business, art, and government. You, as Judas, are the driver of every event in a mysterious story with a new cast of characters to get to know — and to change — in a world where every decision you make affects how the story unfolds.
Jan 31
Ash Parrish
Sonic and Shadow sitting in a tree.
Sonic Generations was released 14 years ago this November (god I’m old) and in celebration of this slightly odd anniversary, Sega is remaking the game. But this time, instead of Sonic being front and center, the game will feature his longtime rival (or lover... or both depending on the kinds of fanfiction you read) Shadow the Hedgehog.
Sonic x Shadow Generations (which has to be the title of a fanfiction somewhere) will feature an all-new story mode starring Shadow with new levels and bosses. Sonic x Shadow Generations launches in fall 2024.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
Dave dives onto PlayStation.
Cult hit Dave the Diver is making its way to PlayStation in April. Even more surprising? The game is getting a free Godzilla-themed update in May.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
Welcome (back) to hell.
Things kicked off with a brief new trailer for Sony’s sci-fi bug shooter Helldivers 2. It’s been almost a decade since the original game, but the wait for the sequel won’t be too long now: it launches on the PS5 and PC on February 8th.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
While we wait for State of Play to start,
it’s a good time to re-watch the trippy-ass reveal trailer for Death Stranding 2, as we’ll likely be seeing more of the sequel this afternoon. If you want to watch along with the PlayStation event live, the details are right here.
Jan 31
Andrew Webster
How to watch today’s PlayStation State of Play showcase
Sony is ending the first month of the year with a big ol’ livestream full of gaming news. The next PlayStation State of Play kicks off this afternoon, and the company is promising 40 minutes that will cover quite a few video games — more than 15, in fact.
Only two titles have been confirmed, with Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin and the anime-style adventure game Stellar Blade. But with Sony saying the event will include “other titles coming to PS5 and PS VR2 in 2024 and beyond,” it’s not hard to guess some of the games that could make an appearance. There’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is launching very soon; the remake of Silent Hill 2; a rumored PS5 remake of horror game Until Dawn; the sequel to Death Stranding that we haven’t heard much about since its reveal; and the mysterious Judas, the first title from BioShockcreative lead Ken Levine’s new studio. Maybe we’ll see some of Sony’s scaled-back ambitions in the live-service space.
Read Article >
Jan 29
Andrew Webster
Sony’s next PlayStation State of Play streams this week
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Not long after Xbox kicked off the year with a showcase featuring the first look at Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Sony has announced that it’s holding a State of Play livestream later this week. It’ll be 40 minutes long and will take place on January 31st at 5PM ET. Sony says that the event will include more than 15 games that cover “titles coming to PS5 and PS VR2 in 2024 and beyond.”
The last State of Play was in September, which featured a release date announcement for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and a lengthy trailer for Spider-Man 2 (which launched one month later). We’ll likely see more of Rebirth at the upcoming livestream, along with other PlayStation titles like Helldivers 2, Rise of the Rōnin, and the Silent Hill 2 remake.
Read Article >
