Sony’s much anticipated Thursday event has been cancelled. No date has been offered for the postponement. Sony’s cancellation comes in the wake of Nationwide protests for the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police officers. Sony released the following statement on the company’s Twitter feed:
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 1, 2020
“While we understand gamers worldwide are excited to see PS5 games, we do not feel that right now is a time for celebration and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard”.
Sony’s move is understandable, and the right one, as other video game companies are publicly showing solidarity with the protests, and the call to end institutional racism. EA’s Madden 2021 announcement was scheduled to take place yesterday, but the company also joined protest with what perhaps was one of the more profound statements made on Twitter by a gaming giant:
An official statement from EA SPORTS pic.twitter.com/MKdgJjvKJB
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) May 31, 2020
“We stand with our African American / Black community of friends, players, colleagues, and partners. Our immediate attention is on actions we can take to drive change against the unjust treatment and systemic bias that is plaguing the nation and our world. We’ll find another time to talk football with you. Because this is bigger than a game, bigger than sports, and needs all of us to stand together and commit to change.”
It is unclear whether Sony will reschedule the game’s event for a later June date. Sony has been proactive during the Pandemic period in terms of offering services and free gifts for its customers. Journey and the Uncharted Collection were given away for free and tallied over 10 million downloads.
It is likely that Sony will keep its PS5 presentation under wraps in solidarity with its customers until there is a peaceful resolution to the protests, and justice is served to the family of George Floyd.
For now, Sony’s biggest summer ‘events’ remain the upcoming release of the Last of Us Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima. In regard to the former game, Digital Foundry has played an early demo version of the title and their analysis (below) is top notch as always.
The video shows mayor improvements in animation, lighting, and materials. The animation especially is some of, if not the best that I have ever seen in a game. The game, as expected, doesn’t reach 4K on the PS4 Pro, it stays at a 1440p resolution with a consistent 30fps.
Improvements in enemy A.I. are also noticeable, a making encounters with the infected, and human foes more engaging and exciting that in the previous game.
As we commented on our news article yesterday, the guys at digital foundry wondered whether we would eventually have a remastered version of the game on the PS5, and whether backwards compatibility would enhance the game in a significant way, as Sony has confirmed that the game will run on the PS5.
No detail has been spared by Naughty Dog, and it seems that the long wait for the game will be well worth it in June 19th.