PlayStation State of Play: Astro Bot steals the show

Sony has revealed a slew of upcoming games to a mixed response.

The console maker’s State of Play shows are a short collection of trailers and gameplay footage from upcoming games.

There have been criticisms that the company’s PS5 release schedule lacked the blockbuster exclusives that PlayStation has built its name on.

It doesn’t normally show bigger games during State of Play – these reveals are usually saved for its branded “Showcase” events.

And this again proved to be the case. But there was one exclusive track that stole the show…

Sony devoted most of the presentation to its upcoming team-based online shooter, Concord.

This is not entirely surprising. The company has bet big on “live” games that receive regular updates to keep fans playing, and one of the company’s big hits this year has been Helldivers 2.

The Starship Troopers-inspired multiplayer game has sold more than 12 million copies since its release in February, and its success is due to Sony’s strategy of making the game available on PC and PS5 upon launch.

It plans to do the same with Concord, but there were doubts about its ability to capture players’ attention in the same way as Helldivers 2.

The first detailed look at the game’s cutscenes, as well as gameplay footage, led fans to dub it “Overwatch meets Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Speaking of which, State of Play also showed off preview footage of Marvel Rivals – another team-based online game that could provide some competition for Concord.

Also on the PC side, Sony revealed that its port of 2022 smash God of War Ragnarök would be released in September.

It offers many PC-exclusive features, including unlocked frame rates, upscaling technology, and support for ultra-wide displays, considered an advantage of optimized gaming rigs.

But buried in the fine print on one screen in the trailer was a note stating that players wanting to experience the hero Kratos’ most recent adventure on computer will need to create a PlayStation Network account.

There was a huge backlash earlier this month when Sony tried to force Helldivers 2 players who had already purchased the game to sign up in order to stay logged in.

He eventually backed down, but there were still murmurs of discontent from those who had spotted the warning.

Sony’s underused robot mascot is usually reserved for tech demos and if you bought a PS5 it would come with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed.

The colorful platformer featuring the shiny hero was primarily a showcase for the console’s DualSense controller.

But now we’re giving it its own game.

The trailer showed Astro soaring through the desert, snow and mountains, and facing a series of eccentric enemies.

Much like the PS5 pack-in title, it also featured plenty of references to PlayStation classics, with nods in the trailer to Uncharted hero Nathan Drake and OG rhthym action star Parappa the Rappers who get the most attention.

Judging by the many, many enthusiastic responses to this one, Astro’s Playroom is going to have to make room for this follow-up on many PS5 owners’ hard drives.

Even though there were no new installments in Sony’s major franchises, there was another look at the visually revamped horror adventure, Until Dawn.

The 2015 “playable slasher film” from British studio Supermassive Games was a sleeper hit on PS4 and featured performances from Oscar winner Rami Malek and Heroes star Hayden Panettiere.

Another horror remake – of the psychological classic Silent Hill 2 – got a release date and new footage, and top-down RPG Path of Exile 2 was also shown off.

There were also some original titles – “Open World Dress Up Adventure”. Infinity Nikki featured a cute, anime-influenced look.

State of Play also included trailers for Dynasty Warriors Origins and Monster Hunter Wilds – updates to long-running popular series.

Both, especially Monster Hunter, are big sellers in Japan. Some reports suggest that Sony is struggling to move PS5s in its home country and that sales of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth have reportedly been disappointing.

Many speculated that Sony had turned its back on virtual reality after the high-profile launch of its PSVR2 headsets.

The company has closed its London-based VR studio and laid off staff from Firesprite, the Liverpool-based team that worked on flagship title Horizon: Call of the Mountain.

But those who have embraced the new technology may have a reason to ditch it.

SkyDance’s Behemoth threw players into a snowy landscape populated by giant creatures determined to exterminate you.

And Alien Rogue Incursion, based on the classic sci-fi series, sees players navigating a destroyed spaceship, trying to avoid one of the iconic xenomorphs.

Sony’s other big games so far this year, Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin, feature epic sword battles. And one of the most anticipated cross-platform releases is the open-world fantasy RPG Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

They will be in good company. State of Play also included footage from Where Winds Meet. The swaggering fighter from Chinese developer Everstone Studio has been compared to the beloved Dark Souls series.

Another Chinese-developed game, Ballad Of Antara, is a free-to-play action RPG in which players travel between two parallel worlds fighting supernatural enemies.