The rumor mill can finally take a long-earned rest, as Sony has confirmed that a long-suspected State of Play will take place on February 12. Excitement around this month's presentation is particularly high, and for good reason: PlayStation has a number of major releases cooking, but has remained tight-lipped on when we'll actually get to play most of its upcoming PS5 games.
If the upcoming State of Play delivers on those missing hard facts, PlayStation is poised to take lead for the industry and tee up a year that's still quite up in the air. It's possible we'll get a show that's light on surprises and heavy on details, but it would be remiss of me to close the door on a few gasps – after all, Sony's lawyers have been making a lot of noise around Bloodborne in the run-up to its tenth anniversary. Regardless of whether a trip back to Yharnam is in the books, it does feel like there's a lot of reasons to be excited for this State of Play – here's what I'm personally keeping an eye out for.
Release dates upon release dates
Thumb through a list of this year's upcoming games, and you'll see an alarming lack of hard release dates. One of the biggest question marks is around Ghost of Yōtei, which was revealed last year along with a 2025 release window – surprising a lot of fans who expected Sucker Punch's long-awaited sequel to still be a few years away from launch. Considering Assassin's Creed Shadows – which does have a release date, and is barely a month away – will soon give players their fill of samurai fantasy, it seems sensible to pencil in a release date while fans are still parched.
Outside of PlayStation, there are a few big third-party titles that feel like a strong fit for this month's State of Play. Hideo Kojima's weird walkathon Death Stranding 2 and Konami's Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater are yet to have release dates locked in, and besides their strong ties to PlayStation, there's good reason to suspect each developer has something cooking. Kojima recently teased 10 seconds of Death Stranding 2 gameplay whilst mixing a new trailer – gee, I wonder where that'll show up – whilst Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater's clues are a little more on the nose, as a trailer confirming an August 28 release date was leaked through none other than PlayStation.
Besides putting numbers to names, this State of Play also feels like an opportunity for PlayStation to banish any lingering doubts around its future. 2024 was a quiet year for Sony – besides the success of platforming gem Astro Bot, its leading studios were noticeably quiet, while the death of multiplayer shooter Concord cast a long shadow over Sony's ambitious live service plans.
Though it feels a little too soon to hear more on Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which was only revealed at The Game Awards in December, Sony has several options for making a show of strength if it so desires. It's been a while since we heard anything about Marvel's Wolverine, and with Marvel fans convinced that Logan will be in the next Avengers film, now could be the perfect time to tease a glimpse of the game, even if an outright release date seems unlikely. That said – Insomniac has been tight-lipped about Wolverine's progress, so it's hard to tell how far along the pipeline its next superhero game actually is. Rumors have also suggested Insomniac may be further expanding PlayStation's Marvel universe beyond the adamantium avenger and our favorite wallcrawler, including potential spin-offs, which would be great to hear more on.
Elsewhere, Bungie has ramped up development on Marathon and seems dead-set on replicating the live service success it's found through Destiny. The studio has been fairly transparent about Marathon still being some ways off, so while we're unlikely to get a release date for this just yet, it won't come as a surprise to see a longer trailer paraded out – besides it sounding fantastic, Sony showing real confidence in the game at its early stages would go a long way toward righting the ship after the messiness of Concord's collapse. Similarly, I'd love to see more from Haven Studios' Payday-esque shooter Fairgames. This shooter feels much further along the line than some of its in-development siblings at PlayStation, so its appearance wouldn't come as too much of a surprise. That said, I'll admit to a little bias – I've sunk more time into Payday than I'd care to admit, so I'm quietly just hoping for something that scratches that itch sooner rather than later.
Besides playing the hits, it does feel like there's room for a few wild cards to spice up the presentation. Sony Santa Monica has been awfully quiet since God of War Ragnarok, but rumors surrounding the studio are too thin to bet on. But there are enough clues in the wild to suggest that Sony may truly have something Bloodborne-shaped in the works. Whether that's a full Bloodborne remaster or slapped-on polish for a PS5 port, the publisher's lawyers have been very aggressive over the last few weeks, taking down both a high-profile 60fps mod and PS1 demake – a spree so congruous that even the former's creator has wondered if an official announcement is on the way. With Bloodborne's tenth anniversary coming up next month– you know what? I don't even want to say it, but make of that as you will.
All said, PlayStation's next State of Play looks set to paint broad strokes for 2025. It's traditionally been very hard to predict every beat Sony will hit, but its February 12 presentation certainly seems to have more clues scattered than usual. Whatever we see, it will be very interesting to see how Sony's software arm plans to tackle a year that will likely be dominated by the Nintendo Switch 2 and GTA 6 – and if Sony plays its cards right, 2025 could indeed be a huge year for PlayStation.
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