PlayStation 5 Reveal Event Predictions
The first shot of the console battle has been made. Xbox has rolled the dice. The launch of its next generation hardware, the Xbox Series X, has started its campaign trail. Last month they showed off the first ever Series X gameplay, our first look at the future of gaming. Or at least that’s how Microsoft put it. Meanwhile, over at Sony, the curtain remains firmly closed.
Until now.
Today, at 9pm BST/1pm PST, Sony will finally get the show on the road. After months of waiting, we will finally learn… something… about the PlayStation 5. But what exactly will we find out about Sony’s new, fancy and expensive machine?
This is the key questions heading into today’s showcase, which Sony have said will be roughly over an hour in length. So, let’s try to pick apart what might, and what might not, appear at the reveal event tonight.
What fun is a next generation of gaming without wild predictions and speculation that ultimately blows up in my face!
Before we begin, let’s split these predictions into two strands to make life easier: Hardware and Software.
Hardware:
- THE BOX IS SHOWN
The last time both Sony and Microsoft showed off next generation hardware was in 2013. By this time in that reveal cycle — which would be E3 right now in a normal year — both had shown off what their console looked like. In fact, it was June 10 of that year that Sony showed off the PlayStation 4, and famously knocked Xbox off their perch in a stellar display of one-upmanship.
Meanwhile, Microsoft had revealed their new machinery a whole month in advance of E3, at their first console reveal event, which is the origin for one of the industry’s most iconic and disastrous images.
This time around, Microsoft jumped the gun almost a whole year before release. The Series X was first revealed in December at the annual Video Game Awards show. It was quite the pleasant surprise, and has given Microsoft the marketing advantage of the last six months.
But now we are ready to find out what the PS5 looks like. It might not sound like such a big deal, but fans all want to know what their new system of choice is going to look like. Everyone wants to know what they might be opening up on Christmas morning, or 30 minutes after a hectic midnight launch.
Tonight is surely the night Sony plays their role in facilitating fans’ wildest imagination. It’s time they show off the box… THE BOX.
2. NO PRICE OR RELEASE DATE
However, with any new piece of hardware, the biggest question always looms over it, casting a giant dark shadow over any good news: how much will it cost?
Again, compared to the previous generation cycle, it was at E3 where Sony announced a $400 price point for the PS4. It was also at E3 that Microsoft announced a $500 price just hours earlier than Sony. Will Sony dare to go first this time instead? Highly unlikely. Historically the price of the next PlayStation has been revealed after their competitor.
The most iconic instance of this was at E3 in 1995, when Sony executive Steve Race came up to the stage for a “brief presentation” in which he announced a $299 launch price for the PS1, undercutting Sega by $100.
Similarly, the release date might be a card Sony holds close to their chest for a little while longer. While undercutting Microsoft by a week or two won’t make a substantial difference in the outcome of who wins the generation, uncertainty remains over the amount of stock that will be available this year. Waiting on a firm release date makes a lot of sense.
Meanwhile, launch price can be a deciding factor in many people’s purchasing decisions, as seen by both the PS1 and the PS4 which swept aside the more expensive competition. Considering that Sony has said that this reveal event will be followed by more presentations, history suggests that we will have to wait a little bit longer to find out just how much the PS5 will cost.
It makes quite a lot of sense too, when also factoring the potentially high price of the PS5. If the cost is too high, then it completely undermines the entire show. Sony won’t want anything to ruin the first reveal of their future of gaming.
3. THE DUALSENSE IS EXPLAINED
What little we do know about the PS5 can most easily be described by what we know of the DualSense. After four console generations, and 25 years, the DualShock name given to the PlayStation controller will be no more.
On April 7, Sony announced the first details of its new controller. While the basic shape and design of the controller hasn’t changed much, it is just a controller after all, the biggest tease laid out by Sony in its announcement was for the “Create” button.
“With Create, we’re once again pioneering new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world, or just to enjoy for themselves. We’ll have more details on this feature as we get closer to launch,” read Sony’s press release.
The Create button is the next step on their revolutionary “Share” button that the DualShock 4 first introduced. A further explanation for what that means is due, and there’s no time like the present. This should be kept quite brief and, if done smartly, will be a part of a gameplay demo midway through the show.
Nothing too sexy, but will be interesting all the same.
4. BRIEF GLIMPSE OF THE UI
As part of showing off the new Create button, it’s highly likely that we might also see a brief glimpse of what the new system’s user interface will look like. The PS3 introduced the world to the cross-media bar (XMB). It was, frankly, quite a strange design choice that only expert die-hard PS3 users really figured out, but the PS4’s UI was very much an evolution of what came before it. It was a simpler design, and slightly easier on the eye.
However, improvements could be made.
While I wouldn’t expect a full-blown presentation of the UI, it is entirely possible that we see a snapshot of what the PS5 will actually look like to use.
These last two predictions were a hallmark of Sony’s first showcase of the PS4, in which Mark Cerny gave a brief presentation of the DualShock 4 which also featured the tiniest look at the system’s UI.
Software:
5. UP TO 25 GAMES ARE SHOWN
What is good hardware, but for a lack of software with which to play? Sony knows as well as anyone just how important it is to show off games, games, games when revealing a console. With the presentation set to be a little over an hour, that leaves plenty of room for a smattering of new titles to be announced.
At Sony’s last E3 conference, in 2018, the show focused on four first party games over the course of one hour. But in that time, Sony still offered room for third party titles such as Call of Duty, Control, Nioh 2 and more. Today’s showcase might take on a similar form.
We might expect to see the likes of Square Enix, EA, Take-Two Interactive, Activision and maybe even Konami(!) at today’s event. What games do these publishers have up their sleeve? Anyone up for a new Crash Bandicoot game?
And might we finally see what Rocksteady are working on? It has been quite a while since their last major release in 2015.
6. AT LEAST 5 NEW FIRST PARTY TITLES
Meanwhile, Sony’s backbone of any console generation is their first party titles. At that 2018 E3 conference it was Ghosts of Tsushima, The Last of Us Part II, Death Stranding and Days Gone that were heavily featured. With those four games now out, or about to release, it is safe to assume that we are now at the beginning of the next cycle of first party games.
It has been two years since God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man released, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see sequels teased for one, or even both, of these franchises. Though Spider-Man 2 seems more likely.
Horizon Zero Dawn came out in early 2017, and with it already all-but confirmed by now, today’s event is a more than appropriate time to finally reveal Horizon Two (Dawn?).
And what would a new console generation be like if there was no racing game to showcase how pretty the cars now look? I don’t know because that simply isn’t possible, every console must launch with the racing game! Earlier today, Kaz Yamauchi, a producer for Gran Turismo, even tweeted a reminder for today’s event. If no new Gran Turismo game is revealed today then I will be left shocked and disappointed.
Other new first party titles may come in the form of Ratchet & Clank, or maybe even Knack 3? Much like a racing game, a family friendly cartoon-y platformer is a staple of a Sony console launch. From Rayman to Knack, the history is there. It has also been four years since the last Ratchet game came out, so announcing a follow-up to launch with a new system could be a great way to hook in old fans of the beloved franchise.
Lastly, over at Sony Japan, it has been a couple years since the last big title to come out of that extensive arm of Sony’s first party studios. What shape or form a new title might take is unclear, but it would be no surprise to see it be announced today.
7. A COMMITMENT TO INDIE TITLES
During the early days of the PS4 it was indie titles that carried that system throughout a barren first year or so. Some of the PS4’s early success stories were indie titles, such as Resogun, Outlast and Octodad: Dadliest Catch.
An acknowledgement of this should be made by Sony, and a trailer of upcoming indie titles coming to the PS5 would make for a great gesture to maintain their commitment to indie titles in the coming generation.
8. HORIZON 2 IS A LAUNCH TITLE, SPIDER-MAN 2 TO LAUNCH 2021
What good is announcing new games if we don’t know when we’ll get to play them? A big launch game isn’t necessarily the hallmark of a new PlayStation, but with Microsoft expected to launch a new Halo alongside the Series X then a big launch game might be needed.
Guerrilla Games were there for the launch of the PS4 with the underwhelming Killzone Shadow Fall. But a sequel to Horizon, which sold over 10 million copies, would be a big statement from Sony.
If the PS5 is going to be as expensive as expected, which is in the region of $500-$600, then a big first party launch title will be needed to reel in players unsure about spending so much for a day one purchase.
However, as good as the sequel to Horizon might end up, it won’t be enough all on its own. While launch day will likely be backed up by a slew of the usual third party titles like Assassin’s Creed, EA’s sports games and Call of Duty, the launch window will need to give players a reason to keep coming back.
Spider-Man 2 would make for an exciting launch window game. The original sold over 13 million units and is a valuable IP for Sony. Insomniac’s second Spider-Man game will be a huge PS5 game and it releasing within the first 9–12 months of the console’s life cycle would make for a big first year of the PS5.
If Sony wants to hold on to their supremacy over Microsoft going into the next generation then they need to go all guns blazing at the start of the PS5. While the PS4 could afford to rely on indie titles for a couple years before the big hits started rolling in, the same will likely not be true going into 2021.
