Following the announcement that we’re in for an Xbox Developer Direct within the coming days, a fresh report pertaining to Sony’s own plans to showcase what it has in store for 2024 has surfaced. Considering the litany of major PS5 releases we should be set to enjoy this year, it’s the perfect time for Team Blue to flex its muscles. Should the report materialize, then we won’t have to wait long, as a State of Play should be landing “in the next few weeks”.
That’s according to industry insider Jeff Grubb, who has made this claim on the Giant Bomb podcast. With this year’s Xbox Developer Direct set to air on January 18, it looks like PlayStation has opted to bring its showcase forward – 2023’s first State of Play showcase aired in late February, while 2022’s arrived at the beginning of March.
Musing on what we could see from a late January/early February State of Play, there’s plenty of potential when it comes to new PS5 games. Considering the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date, Helldivers 2 release date, and Tekken 8 release date are just around the corner, there’s plenty of scope for deep dives or launch trailers there.
We may also see and hear a final push for Pacific Drive – which received a lot of praise in recent previews – which is a PS5 console exclusive launching in February. Likewise, while the previews for Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League have been largely underwhelming, there’s a certain poetry to it once again being featured, as it was in February 2023’s SoP.
Helldivers 2 isn’t the only first-party game on the list of PS5 exclusives we’re expecting to see, either. Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin is set for a late March launch, so seeing the dearth of extended gameplay footage rectified would be unsurprising. March will also finally see the arrival of non-exclusive Dragon’s Dogma 2 – the game this writer’s most excited for (but don’t tell FF7R).
Looking further ahead, we recently reported that Sony has slapped 2024 release windows on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Forever Skies – two games that could receive teasers during the upcoming SoP. The Silent Hill 2 remake is also set to release at some point this year, and an update on Bloober Team’s reimagining of one of the best horror games of all time would certainly go down a treat with fans (read: us). We’d also love to see Sony share more details (and hopefully some gameplay too) about its live service shooter Concord, which it also recently reaffirmed a 2024 release window for.
There’s plenty of scope to see smaller updates and possibly ports to and from the PS5, too. Spider-Man 2’s New Game+ was delayed to early this year, setting the stage for a release date trailer. Likewise, Honkai Star Rail 2.0 is set to arrive at the beginning of February, offering up an opportunity for HoYoverse to cast a wider net for the 2.0 trailer we’re expecting to see during the version’s livestream at the end of January.
Following reports in recent days of Xbox exclusives Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves setting sail for Sony’s hardware, our hopium take is that we’ll finally get some form of confirmation. 2024’s first State of Play would certainly be the perfect stage to unveil these titles – even if their ports are still cooking away in the oven.
Finally, we wouldn’t be shocked to see Sony shipping Ghost of Tsushima off to PC, considering the upcoming arrival of Horizon Forbidden West’s Complete Edition on the platform. We know from Sony’s 2023 corporate report that PlayStation is targeting a larger slice of the PC market, so 2024 should be the year in which we see more console exclusives prepare to make the leap.
February 2023’s State of Play was chock full of trailers, deep dives, and sneak peeks at big hitters including Destiny 2, Suicide Squad, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Street Fighter 6, and Baldur’s Gate 3. Suffice to say, the first State of Play of 2024 has big shoes to fill when it comes to showing off what we hope will become some of the year’s best games, though if our wishlist materializes then the year will undoubtedly be off to a flying start for Team Blue.