State of Play Megathread | May 30 Show Announced

[Moonface]

I didn't bother to watch this one since I don't care for PSVR nor Suicide Squad, and I'm glad I didn't since the only thing that was shown I would've had any interest in was Resi 4. Taking a glance at what was shown it looks like it had a decent quantity of things, so I suspect any shortcomings I'd have with it if I watched it would be in the actual content itself. At least Sony didn't hype up this SoP as having more than it will actually have, and I don't blame them for however the third party stuff is since the most Sony can do is decide whether to include something or not that gets presented to them, and it isn't like they're going to say no to most of it even if a lot of the titles look to be niche because having it in SoP means that PlayStation gets advertised as the first confirmed platform or just further associated with a game that we already know the platforms for. Rejecting it for the sake of what people want just puts the ball outside of Sony's court at best and sours relations with developers at worst.

[Dragon Lord]

I was inhaling some slight copium for a last minute Octopath Traveler drop since OP2 is releasing tomorrow.

Instead we got... that garbage. Once again way too much focus on some shitty superhero game that's going to be a major flop and no one will care about a week after release. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Mr EliteL]

Didn't watch live, skimmed through it just now. Neat the Naruto Storm games is getting a big round up of the series bringing it all together in one package, SF6 got to see some character gameplay, everything else was meh. Happy I missed it.

[Moonface]

Instead we got... that garbage. Once again way too much focus on some shitty superhero game that's going to be a major flop and no one will care about a week after release. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It clearly has to be that WB are paying a lot of money to have the game marketed, since I don't see why any company would dedicate so much time to the game in the wake of titles like Marvel's Avengers and Gotham Knights both getting a ton of marketing hype only to crash and burn the instant they get released. Even if the game was showing anything promising, all of that probably got shot out back like an animal as soon as news broke after this SoP that the game was live-service and filled with microtransactions and other shitty practices.

In general though, I want State of Play's to move away from this trend of giving huge amounts of focus to multiplatform third-party titles. It went from Deathloop showing up every single time Sony showed off anything, to now having 15+ minutes of footage in one go of stuff like Hogwarts Legacy and Suicide Squad. To me any lengthy showcases of a third-party game that isn't a console exclusive should be done outside of a PlayStation/Xbox/Nintendo showcase because it just makes any showcase feel weak if the best it can do is 10+ minutes of marketing a game that I can buy on multiple platforms while anything that is exclusive to that console gets a minute or two in comparison. Capcom are like the only ones who have the right approach, by showing off a small slice in one of these showcases but then doing a more in-depth look themselves at another time, as was the case with the Resi showcase.

[Moonface]

Final Fantasy XVI State of Play on April 13
For anyone interested in Final Fantasy XVI, Sony has announced there will be a 20 minute State of Play focused exclusively on the game this Thursday:

Anyone planning to watch it? I don't know what the overall interest is about this game on here since it hasn't really come up often.

[ShiraNoMai]

It's strange; I feel like those who would be interested in this game already know enough already to be buying it day one. I'm not sure who this State of Play is for

[Dragon Lord]

While I am really looking forward to FFXVI, as it looks like it has the potential to be the best FF game we've gotten in... well, since X (being generous towards X here and also not including XIV), I still don't see a good reason for PlayStation to spend an entire State of Play on it. I know they want to push it hard because they have exclusivity on it for at least the first year most likely, but still.

I won't be able to watch it regardless, as it'll be at a time that I'm asleep, but I'd pass on it anyways and just catch the trailer(s) they'll end up showing during it.

[Mr EliteL]

I'll just watch anything related to FFXVI afterwards as I haven't payed any attention to it but slightly curious, though I'm busy tonight which is the main reason, if I wasn't I wouldn't have one but still likely wouldn't watch live anyway.

[queenzelda]

Imma pass on the newest Final Fantasy due to my not liking how hard SE is going in on NFT nonsense. Also I bet this game has to be retooled like the last one. Heh.

I'm also readying up for the Pokémon S/V Typhlosion raid. I ain't got time for a half assed strewn together state of play anyhow. Most s.o.p aren't worth watching tbh. But that's me.

[Moonface]

Imma pass on the newest Final Fantasy due to my not liking how hard SE is going in on NFT nonsense. Also I bet this game has to be retooled like the last one. Heh.

By the last one so you mean chronologically with 15 or by release order which would be 7R? I'm guessing you mean 15 since I don't really know of any changes 7R had done to it (not counting changes from the original game obviously) so if that's the case would you or someone else mind filling me in? I never really heard much about 15 after it launched.

EDIT: For anyone who wants to talk about Final Fantasy XVI in general or comment specifically on the State of Play video for it that aired today, I made an official thread for the game that can be found here: https://universalgaming.net/showthread.p...on=newpost

[Moonface]

PlayStation Showcase Announced for May 24
Sony have announced a new PlayStation Showcase will be broadcast next Wednesday, May 24 at 1pm Pacific Time / 9pm British Time. The show will run a bit over an hour, focusing on PS5 and PS VR2 games in development from top studios from around the world. Expect a glimpse at several new creations from PlayStation Studios, as well as spellbinding games from our third-party partners and indie creators.

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It's not a State of Play but I feel it can still fit into here unless I figure out somewhere better. Still, I guess this is going to be Sony's big presentation for the summer. I think we could see any of the following:

• The Last of Us Multi-Player Project (last seen in January 2023 with a piece of concept art, with more details said to be revealed later in the year)
  
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (last seen September 2021, with an expected 2023 release)
  
• Stellar Blade (last seen September 2022, with an expected 2023 release)
  
• Marvel's Wolverine (unlikely unless this is being made alongside Spider-Man 2, but was last seen September 2021 just like that game so there's a possibility)
  
• Lies of P (due for an August 2023 release so might show up, although I don't think the game has been in a single State of Play so hard to tell)
  
• Control 2 (I believe Sony marketed the first game hard and all we have so far is an announcement, but I won't hold my breath on this one)
  

I know there's more than this but I'm drawing a blank. I did consider FF16 but we just had a SoP for it so I doubt Sony will give it much time unless a demo is being announced.

[ShiraNoMai]

I've been seeing word go around about the possibility of the Bloodborne remaster/port being brought up here. It was a substantive rumor, but also, big copium surely.

Who knows, but I'm looking forward to seeing them kick off the summer of games

[Moonface]

I'd much rather see a new Bloodborne game than just getting the existing one bumped to 60fps, but that's because I'd have zero interest in going back to Bloodborne even though I really like that game.

I'm hoping for some brand new announcements that are unexpected more than anything though, since most games I listed are already things we've seen or it wouldn't be hard to fill in a fair amount of blanks such as with TLoU MP and Spider-Man 2.

[Dragon Lord]

That rumor actually came from the creator of the God of War series, who says that he has inside information that confirms that Sony is planning something with Bloodborne. However, he made it a point to specifically say that he doesn't know if it's going to have anything to do with this Showcase or if it's going to be something they announce at a later time. People are just running with it as a "it's going to happen at the showcase!!" thing despite him saying it's not 100%.

Either way, I fully expect Sony to do something with Bloodborne eventually. Way too much money sitting there not to cash in on. Bloodborne at 60 FPS would be wonderful and I would 100% dip on a PS5 and a PC port and 100% both of them if they do it.

[Moonface]

That rumor actually came from the creator of the God of War series, who says that he has inside information that confirms that Sony is planning something with Bloodborne. However, he made it a point to specifically say that he doesn't know if it's going to have anything to do with this Showcase or if it's going to be something they announce at a later time. People are just running with it as a "it's going to happen at the showcase!!" thing despite him saying it's not 100%.

Either way, I fully expect Sony to do something with Bloodborne eventually. Way too much money sitting there not to cash in on. Bloodborne at 60 FPS would be wonderful and I would 100% dip on a PS5 and a PC port and 100% both of them if they do it.

I forgot Cory Barlog made a statement about Bloodborne. Kinda weird for someone who works for a first-party Sony studio to say they have "inside information" though, since that's usually a statement reserved for people who are getting their information from inside a company but aren't part of it, i.e. Jason Schreier.

The only way Bloodborne is going to get an announcement for a remaster/remake on PS5/PC is if Bluepoint are helming it though I think. I doubt FromSoft have the manpower to spare on it when they're working on both Elden Ring DLC and Armored Core VI, which is what also makes me doubt Bloodborne 2 happening anytime soon too, if it ever does.

Thinking of it though I wonder if we'll see anything about the Elden Ring DLC at this showcase or someone else's later in the summer. Apparently a recent fiscal report from FromSoft's parent company doesn't list that DLC as being part of their forecast that carries through to March 31, 2024 though so it might be too far off for anything from that, and assuming that report would detail anything else of note the company is working on that isn't announced yet then it doesn't look like FromSoft have anything new to announce. Although, it seems odd to me any company would publicly post their financial reports because putting anything in there under a placeholder title immediately reveals something new is coming, so surely every report only gets released when everything in it has been announced otherwise not releasing one at any point due to unannounced projects being listed would giveaway that there's something being worked on that's stopping the report from being made public yet. I doubt a company can just remove parts of their fiscal reports that are unannounced to the public yet.