On the Way From Sony at E3 2016
Some of Sony’s success with the PlayStation 4 can be attributed to their growing popularity surrounding E3 press conferences, and their strategy to strictly market towards gamers. The Japanese publisher and console manufacturer has been able to sell 40 million PlayStation 4’s even with a lack of exclusives that were ever-present during the PS3 era. In 2016, games like Ratchet & Clank, The Witness, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End have alleviated the need for first party titles, but Sony look to be getting back into their groove with a plethora of titles to come in 2016 and beyond. Expectations are certainly high this year and we’ve got a good idea of what we can expect from Sony at E3 2016.
Of course the most obvious reveal will be release dates for already announced titles. President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida has been adamant following E3 2015 that both The Last Guardian and Guerilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn will be released before year’s end. While The Last Guardian will almost certainly come out, as Sony would never specify a date they can’t hit with a game that has been delayed eternally, it is less likely the pre-historic RPG Horizon: Zero Dawn will make it in time. Having seen only a single slice of gameplay, the game doesn’t look to be ready in just a few short months. But that’s not all, because Horizon: Zero Dawn’s AAA status will affect its release date as Sony would not want to cram a bunch of their bigger games into the fall season. With Gran Turismo Sport already confirmed for a November launch, and The Last Guardian seemingly set to be PlayStation’s big exclusive for October, there isn’t much room to fit in Horizon, which looks to be their marquee title. The only caveat, the massive banner pasted on an LA highrise recently, that may prove this theory 100% wrong. It could be high unlikely that Sony would put in time to showcase the game in such a manner without planning for a big release leading up to the holidays.
It is then interesting to note that both 2014 and 2015’s big Sony exclusives in The Order: 1886 and Uncharted 4 were both delayed into the following year, leaving Sony’s library looking scant in comparison to Microsoft’s growing exclusive lineup on the Xbox. And to complicate matters further, there is the small issue of Persona 5 from Atlus, which is due out in Japan this September with a worldwide release date likely to be unveiled during the press conference. Persona 5, coupled with The Last Guardian and Gran Turismo Sport – alongside any smaller releases like Kill Strain or The Tomorrow Children – are more than enough to carry PlayStation through the holidays, and the inclusion of Horizon on top might weaken sales for Sony’s other exclusives.
But those are only the games we know of, and as we’re all well aware, Sony loves to surprise us. Unannounced projects like the sort-of confirmed God of War IV, and whatever Sony Bend is working on start to shape PlayStation’s 2017 landscape. Bend Studios, who hasn’t shipped a game since 2011’s Uncharted for Vita, are reportedly ready to reveal ‘Dead Don’t Ride’ at the showcase. Infamous developers Sucker Punch are also working on their next project, which could be revealed as their last release, inFamous: Second Son, came out well over 2 years ago.
And let’s not forget LittleBigPlanet creators, Media Molecule and their new game Dreams, or Quantic Dream’s, Detroit: Become Human. It already looks like a strong 2017 with 4 exclusives in the two just mentioned along with God of War 4 and Dead Don’t Ride. Naughty Dog won’t be ready with the inevitable The Last of Us 2 next year, but we could get news on Uncharted 4’s story DLC . Smaller games also include Gravity Rush 2, Resogun developer Housemarquee’s Matterfall, and David Jaffe’s Drawn to Death.
Most exciting of all as we near October will be the blow out of information we get about PlayStation VR. Games like RIGS and Eve: Valkyrie should be available at launch, with Highwire Games’ Golem – being worked on by beloved Halo composer Marty O’Donnell – also likely to be shown off. Sony will know this is one of their last big chances to convince people to buy into the promise of VR before October’s launch, with both the European and Japanese markets having a go at Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show respectively. Playing into the VR discussion, E3 will inevitably mark the official reveal of the PS Neo or PS4K. Sony’s new hardware, corroborated by multiple trusted sources over the past few months, will be both an exciting and daunting announcement. Besides convincing gamers to buy VR, Sony then have to convince the 40 million gamers who already own a PS4 to shell out $400 USD for an upgraded version, and those who don’t have it to jump on the bandwagon. The exact hardware specs and technical demos will be a delight to ingest after the show is over, and it will be a disaster if AAA games run poorly on the ‘old’ PS4 and smoothly on PS4K.
Sadly, with third party deals in place (like the inevitable reveal of Destiny’s new expansion), unannounced titles to show off, and the info megaton surrounding PSVR, it looks as though PlayStation’s beloved portable might not get any screen time besides a quick mention in the highlight reel. Sony might be crazy enough to announce a successor to Vita someday, but definitely won’t allow it to overshadow PSVR or PS4K. At least Vita owners can look forward to Japan Studios’ Gravity Rush 2, which actually may or may not still be a Vita title.
Oh, and where the heck is Capcom’s Deep Down? Pretty sure we won’t be hearing about that from Sony at E3 2016… although we’d like to.