Initially scheduled for June 4th (last Thursday), the long-awaited Sony PlayStation 5’s games reveal will take place this Thursday, June 11th at 1pm Pacific Time/ 9pm BST. The initial date was cancelled due to worldwide protests for the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed man killed by Minneapolis Police officers.
Sony joined other industry giants in support of the protests, and out of respect for the historic moment decided it was best to postpone the reveal. The new date takes place this week, and Sony is ready to showcase the PS5 lineup,
In news that might disappoint videophiles Sony has announced that the video presentation will run at 1080p, and 30 fps. Those of us expecting to see true 60fps (or 120fps) gameplay will have to wait a while longer it seems. Sony does recommend using Headphones in order to better appreciate the sound quality during the presentation.Now that the event is finally here, we are going to venture a few guesses as to what to expect from Sony’s event.
The First Party Reveals
It is hard to predict anything, but Sony in true E3 2013 fashion (the company took advantage of Microsoft going first, thus capitalizing on all the mistakes made on the Xbox One reveal) might have a surprise hidden in its sleeve. Sony has remained quiet while Microsoft has done all the marketing noise for its Series X. It is likely that they waited this long because they wanted to have a presentation that would in many ways out do the Series X’s game reveal which many considered disappointing, as there were no real gameplay trailers, and big hitter Halo Infinite was altogether missing.
Sony likes to take advantage of these miscues and it is likely that at least one first party game reveal will be showcased in the event. The guesses range from 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn’s sequel, to 2018’s God of War sequel. Both games have been critical, and commercial successes for Sony, so either game being announced will go a long way in increasing the hype for the PS5’s launch.
Our best guess is that Horizon Zero Dawn “2” has a better shot at being showcased for the simple fact that it has been 3 years since the original game was released, and Guerrilla (the developer) had been posting job openings last year for “vegetation artists” in order to work on a “Horizon” project.
So, clearly the game has been in development. We will keep our fingers crossed for a reveal of the game on Thursday. The real question is: Will HZD2, if revealed, be a launch title? It would be perfect for Sony to deliver a killer app during the PS5’s launch, but it is hard to say if that will be the case. I say there is a 50-50 chance, the announcement and gameplay trailer of an HZD sequel would be enough to ignite the hype, and we all know that the COVID-19 situation will cause delays in 3 AAA games which HZD clearly is. However, Sony needs a first party title to go head to head with Halo Infinite, and HZD “2” would be a perfect fit.
A God of War “5” announcement would absolutely make everyone go ‘bunkers’ for the console but it is hard for me to keep my hopes up for it, as the development time for the game would have been much shorter than HZD’s sequel. Still, a teaser trailer hinting at the game’s existence even if said game is not released in the near future, would go a long way in causing excitement amongst the Sony faithful, and casual masses.
The PS5’s Final Design
This is one is tough to predict, but considering that there was a recent leak of the ventilation patent for the PS5 which pretty much confirmed the “V” shaped form of the console, I wouldn’t be shocked if Sony finally unveils the unit. That said, the announcements have all stressed the company’s emphasis on showing games, which means that we might have to wait a little longer to see the design of the final unit. This doesn’t bode well for the next subject in the list: The pricing.
A Price Point?
I would not expect it, Sony wants to sell you on the games before revealing a price point, which many suspect will be at least $499.99. The other issue is that Sony is waiting on Microsoft (and Vice versa) to reveal the pricing on its system, as clearly, a competitive price advantage will be one of the most important factors in driving sales this Holiday season. So no, I would not get my hopes up for a PS5 price point reveal on Thursday.
The SSD
Much has been made about the PS5’s 5.5 GHz SSD drive, I believe the first party titles that are shown during the presentation will showcase the advantages of the drive as a selling point for the system in comparison to the Series X’s slower SSD Drive (2.4 GHz). Microsoft has made sure to stress their considerably GPU advantage in its presentations by emphasizing on the system’s Ray Tracing capabilities. I expect Sony to do the same with their SSD drive. Can you imagine Horizon Zero Dawn 2 rendering a massive open world with no visible texture pop up?
The Controller
While it is hard to properly convey haptic feedback in a video presentation (after all we would have to hold the controller ourselves to truly appreciate the differences), it is safe to assume that Sony will make its ‘cutting edge’ controller a focal point during the presentation.
The Third Parties
Most of Xbox Series X’s third-Party games that we have already seen will also make an appearance during the presentation. Considering Sony PS4’s massive popularity I do expect a few more third-party games to make an appearance on the system, as many developers are probably working on titles for it as we speak (especially in Japan).