Lunatic_Gamer
Gold Member
Sony sparked discontent among the PlayStation fandom in February this year when it said during an earnings call there’ll be no sequels or updates to “major existing franchise titles” on the PS5 before March 2025. With the platform holder keeping its content roadmaps close to its chest, the comments were largely taken out of context and many assumed this would be a lean year for the company’s new-gen console.
While it’s true this has been a fairly quiet year for PS Studios, it’s been anything but light on the games front. At the time of writing, my three Game of the Year frontrunners are Astro Bot, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio and the PS5 is the only platform where you can play all three. Other possible contenders for awards include Silent Hill 2, Helldivers 2, and Black Myth: Wukong – all console exclusives.
There seems to be a sentiment on social media that a game doesn’t count unless it comes from a wholly owned first-party studio, but PlayStation has done a particularly good job of working with partners to keep its portfolio packed this year.
Stellar Blade is a great example. It collaborated with Korean developer Shift Up to help bring the NIKKE: Goddess of Victory creator’s console debut to market and in my opinion is another game in contention for an end of year gong. Rise of the Ronin, a similar partnership with legendary studio Team Ninja, may have received a cooler critical reception but it’s currently ranked 17th in IGN’s ongoing Game of the Year user poll, proving it was a hit with fans.
The nauseating number of remakes and remasters may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s easy to forget The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered launched this year and tagged a 90 critical average on aggregators Metacritic and Open Critic. And while many rolled their eyes at the rumours around Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, a $10 upgrade fee and re-recorded dialogue and motion capture mean it’ll almost certainly attract positive reviews as well.
It’s been a quietly colossal year for PS5 then, and you get the sense the best is yet to come. The company’s largely kept its blockbusters close to its chest but 2025 should see the release of Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, with Marvel’s Wolverine waiting in the wings. These are the “major existing franchise titles” the Japanese giant was referring to in that aforementioned investor call.
Many may still argue this has been a light year for PS5 but the catalogue of content Sony has amassed paints a very different picture. The most exciting thing is that it’s successfully filled the time while its first-party teams continue to cook. A huge second-half to the generation now awaits.
