It will have been necessary to wait for whole weeks and months before attending a major speech on the part of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). This Thursday, September 9, 2021, the silence will indeed be broken on the occasion of the PlayStation Showcase!
And the least we can say is that players are hoping for a show of madness as the Japanese manufacturer has communicated so little this year.
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What format for this somewhat special event?
The show itself will start at 22:00 p.m. this Thursday and will last for about forty minutes. It can be followed on YouTube (see the video at the top of this article) and Twitch. It is important to specify that it will not be yet another State of Play but a PlayStation Showcase. Thus, in terms of pace and format, the event should be similar to the PlayStation 5 Showcase that SIE orchestrated in September 2020.
We are therefore entitled to expect a conference denser in content and above all more surprising in terms of the games unveiled. In addition, and before discussing our expectations, note that Sony has already confirmed that its future device dedicated to virtual reality will not be presented here. The PS5 catalog for this end of the year and beyond will be at the heart of the Japanese firm's communication on September 9.
Read also:Alan Wake Remastered would use the same engine as Control
The exclusive fair
Sony openly mentioned it in its press release, PlayStation Studios productions will be honored at this Showcase along with “some of the most creative developers in the sector”. Among the PS5 exclusives that could make an appearance, we think in particular of Horizon forbidden west. After having recently postponed its title to February 18, 2022, Guerrilla Games may be keen to make amends with a small trailer.
They too delayed to next year, Gran Turismo 7 and the next one God of War should also take advantage of the event to show off. Accustomed to teasing on social networks, Cory Barlog, the director of the adventures of Kratos, went there with his little tweet which will possibly lead to an announcement.
As for forspoken, Square Enix's action-RPG exclusive to the PS5 (and PC) for two years, its presentation is rather likely since the actress who plays the heroine of this epic said that new information would soon be communicated. For JRPG lovers, there is unfortunately a good chance that the Japanese publisher will keep Final Fantasy XVI warm for a while.
Among the exclusives already known, this Playstation showcase should give pride of place to Kena: Bridge of Spirits whose launch very soon could bring a new snippet of gameplay. The presence of Deathloop Arkane Lyon (expected September 14), on the other hand, is questioned since he had already shown himself at length during the State of Play last July. Finally, Death Stranding: Director's Cut, whose final trailer will be broadcast the day before the Showcase, will also be monitored.
Great classics and resurrections?
Impossible to imagine a speech made in Sony at the end of the year without seeing a gameplay video of a certain Call of Duty. Once again, the next installment of the Activision franchise will reserve its DLCs in preview for PlayStation players. Thereby, Vanguard could come by to say hello, just to remember our good memories.
For the great returns of games that have disappeared from the face of the Earth since their announcement, we wait Hogwarts legacy. Confirmed a year ago, the open-world RPG, which will allow us to embody a Hogwarts student in the 1800s, is long overdue following the announcement of its postponement to 2022. Even more worrying , the remastering of GTA V for next-gen consoles is due to land on November 11, except that no image has yet been shown by Rockstar Games. The PlayStation Showcase should repair this affront!
Finally, among the (ultimately few) leaks of projects that could show up this week, there is of course Alan Wake Remastered. Using the engine of Control and compatible with ray tracing technology, this remastering would be well advised to confirm its existence at the PlayStation Showcase. And why not with a little teaser pointing to a second opus in the poor writer's gloomy odyssey?
Surprises for a totally crazy evening?
If we really expect to see games already announced during the show, everyone is of course hoping for new surprises. This is rather good, because in this category, the contenders are numerous.
Also, when the creator of God of War in person, David Jaffe, declared that people were going, to quote him, “fart a goddamn cable” at the possible announcement of a very specific project, there is something to be hyped. It is however necessary to temper our expectations since Jaffe no longer works at Sony, and has only kept contacts there. The main interested party also specifies that this famous game may not be revealed immediately. In other words, its formalization at the PlayStation Showcase is absolutely not acquired …
Still, other studios are expected at the turn. At the helm, we call on Naughty Dog and its multiplayer-centric standalone The Last of Us. Since the release of the second episode, the Californian firm has not flinched and an announcement this Thursday would not be unlikely.
Bluepoint Games is also among the favorites. After the incredible remake of Demon's Souls, this studio made up of 70 employees should shortly be acquired by Sony. As for their future game, certain noises from the corridors evoke a modernization of the first Metal Gear Solid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. We will hypothetically know more during the Showcase...
Finally, long evoked, but in the end never confirmed, a Silent Hill new could well be the icing on the big cake that is this presentation. It remains to be seen which studio will take care of it or if this game has not in turn been abandoned?! Ultimate indiscretion whose veracity is difficult to prove, the idea of an (uncertain) new inFamous is starting to make its way according to insiders…
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In conclusion, let us specify all the same that the PlayStation Showcase lasts only 40 minutes, it is almost impossible that all our expectations will be there. Especially since we have not even mentioned the independent games which will necessarily benefit from a dedicated segment. So we just have to take our troubles patiently. See you on September 9 at 22:00 p.m. (Paris time) sharp!
