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[nial]

Sony Interactive Entertainment Shanghai has announced its lineup for ChinaJoy 2025, which will run from August 1 to 4 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

The lineup of games playable at the Sony Interactive Entertainment booth are as follows:

• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• EXILEDGE (Enigmatrix)
• Lost Soul Aside (Ultizero Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Phantom Blade Zero (S-GAME)
• Retrace the Light (Xiaming Game / GlintForge)
• Tang Legends: Silent Strings (Virtuos)
• Unending Dawn (Parcae's Fate Studio)
• Vanishing Starlight (Heart Seven / Gamepoch)
• WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers (505 Games / Lenzee)

Watch a trailer showcasing the booth below.

PlayStation at ChinaJoy 2025 Lineup Trailer

 

[nial]

Please watch the video, the booth is phenomenal.

 

[Valt7786]

Please watch the video, the booth is phenomenal.

Man living in the UK blows sometimes, everywhere else seems to get these great shows/conventions etc to go to and we get stuck with shit like EGX.

 

[Sephiran]

Sony when it comes to China ''I sure love leaving the Japanese market, finally no Nintendo in sight over here''.

 

[yogaflame]

Phantom blade and lost souls are the games Im interested. Sony is very wise to focus on China and the hero program.

 

[nial]

Sony when it comes to China ''I sure love leaving the Japanese market, finally no Nintendo in sight over here''.

Weird thing to say about on this specific thread considering that SIE is going to TGS as well.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Sony when it comes to China ''I sure love leaving the Japanese market, finally no Nintendo in sight over here''.

Nintendo fanboys really are kids!

 

[Heisenberg007]

Phantom blade and lost souls are the games Im interested. Sony is very wise to focus on China and the hero program.

Phantom Blade really looks amazing!

I don't enjoy Souls-like games much, but I am really looking forward to that one.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Phantom blade and lost souls are the games Im interested. Sony is very wise to focus on China and the hero program.

Agree. China is coming out swinging with these action games and I bet they find an audience.

 

[Exede]

I'm at GamesCom this year... fuck this.

 

[Loomy]

Damn, that's where all the GamesCom budget went lmao.

That's what it looks like when Sony actually puts effort into presentations. Just wish they'd do it more often.

Also, is there new Wukong content that I haven't been paying attention to? Or is it going to be a China staple every year from now on?

 

[Nankatsu]

Booth is pretty cool indeed.

 

[Labadal]

I wish Phantom Blade Zero would offer an online demo, already.

 

[Memati187]

Phantom blade and lost souls are the games Im interested. Sony is very wise to focus on China and the hero program.

What exactly is the hero program?

 

[roosnam1980]

sick looking booth
sony are just too good , no wonder they lead the games industry

 

[Mr Moose]

What exactly is the hero program?

Hero Project Vendor Program

Sony Interactive Entertainment launched the Hero Project incubator programs to identify and support high-quality console game development teams and projects. Since their inception, they have offered emerging game development talent consultation support in the form of technology, funding...

sonyinteractive.com

China Hero Project | PlayStation

The China Hero Project is a PlayStation mentoring and support initiative for China-based game developers, giving them the opportunity to develop amazing and imaginative games that can reach a worldwide audience.

www.playstation.com

MENA Hero Project | PlayStation

Middle East North Africa Hero Project is a new incubator programme founded by Sony Interactive Entertainment focused on identifying and supporting emerging developer talent from the Middle East and North Africa.

www.playstation.com

India Hero Project | PlayStation

"India Hero Project (IHP)" is a new incubator program focused on identifying and supporting emerging talent from the region. This India-centric program was launched by Sony Interactive Entertainment for Indian game developers.

www.playstation.com

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Hoping we also get to see some PS5 gameplay footage soon for some of the hyped upcoming CN gachas like Arknights Enfield, NTE, or Azure Promilia.

 

[Rush2112]

Will they announce release date for PBZ that's what I want to know.

 

[yogaflame]

Agree. China is coming out swinging with these action games and I bet they find an audience.

As i said before, I never like China communist regime but about the games that China make, they are impressive and very based. Phantom blade and Lost souls with Sony developers help will surely be impressive. As much as we hated the bad decisions of Sony lately specially gaas and wokeness and dei in California office, the Hero and mena projects of Sony in Asia is great strategy and now bearing fruit.

 

[llLeonhart]

I Was hoping for Wuthering Waves

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Awesome booth, but nothing from the line-up interests me in any way.

Art direction and cinematography from the Chinese devs is looking good though.
Interesting to see how Chinese games evolve in the coming decade or so.

 

[vkbest]

I Was hoping for Wuthering Waves

Imagine promoting such a terrible PS5 port

 

[Spyxos]

At first I thought the booth was made out of Lego.

 

[llLeonhart]

Imagine promoting such a terrible PS5 port

Imagine promoting key improvements for the terrible PS5 port so its actually good now. + They've been cooking with the Story and teasers lately. So they have a ton of content to show.

 

[The_hunter]

Hoping lost soul finally comes out this September

 

[Audible Silence]

hm damn.... doesnt look like any Mech games..

 

[Slothbeingg]

Phantom Blade looks awesome.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

I'm at GamesCom this year... fuck this.

they havent been there since 2019

 

[Mr Hyde]

Phantom Blade Zero looks

 

[CamHostage]

Damn, that's where all the GamesCom budget went lmao.

That's what it looks like when Sony actually puts effort into presentations. Just wish they'd do it more often.

Not really, Sony hasn't been at a Gamescom in over half a decade and I don't expect that to change. (And although Nintendo and MS will have booths there, it's unlikely they will have major announcements there, even though Nintendo has a new console out to support it'll I would bet just be a hands-on even with current and Christmas Switch 2 games.)

And of the games at their booth, only one is actually Sony's game. A few others are from their China Hero Project program, but Sony rarely publishes games from that incubation system (many even go out multiplatform.) It's been a while since the games inducted into CHP Phase 3 (which is how Sony spaces out the program,) so maybe Sony will announce a Phase 4 and some new games, or maybe they'll sign a contract with a new Chinese studio to make another game like StellarBlade, so maybe they'll have a big announcement. But quite possibly not.

This booth (and Sony's presence at ChinaJoy has been since the show started, way back in 2004 when Sony had a presence there to get interested in the even-then-aging-but-everpresent PS2 console) is to get people to know the PlayStation brand. That, and to have some meeting rooms for China Hero Project further negotiations. It's not an event where Sony will have a keynote to lay out the future of PS, its not a gound-zero for global megaton announcements. ChinaJoy is a show for China's gamers and game makers, and we elsewhere in the world will draft off of it but it's not like an E3 or what people think a Gamescom should be.

...That said, sure, I do agree with you that it would be nice if Sony just put on a show again every once in a while outside of China, even if there's no longer a full tent of stars to trot out.

 

[nial]

Not really, Sony hasn't been at a Gamescom in over half a decade and I don't expect that to change. (And although Nintendo and MS will have booths there, it's unlikely they will have major announcements there, even though Nintendo has a new console out to support it'll I would bet just be a hands-on even with current and Christmas Switch 2 games.)

And of the games at their booth, only one is actually Sony's game. A few others are from their China Hero Project program, but Sony rarely publishes games from that incubation system (many even go out multiplatform.) It's been a while since the games inducted into CHP Phase 3 (which is how Sony spaces out the program,) so maybe Sony will announce a Phase 4 and some new games, or maybe they'll sign a contract with a new Chinese studio to make another game like StellarBlade, so maybe they'll have a big announcement. But quite possibly not.

This booth (and Sony's presence at ChinaJoy has been since the show started, way back in 2004 when Sony had a presence there to get interested in the even-then-aging-but-everpresent PS2 console) is to get people to know the PlayStation brand. That, and to have some meeting rooms for China Hero Project further negotiations. It's not an event where Sony will have a keynote to lay out the future of PS, its not a gound-zero for global megaton announcements. ChinaJoy is a show for China's gamers and game makers, and we elsewhere in the world will draft off of it but it's not like an E3 or what people think a Gamescom should be.

...That said, sure, I do agree with you that it would be nice if Sony just put on a show again every once in a while, even if there's no longer a full tent of stars to trot out.

Showcasing many first-party titles would be pointless as they will not be officially released on the Chinese market anytime soon, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Horizon Forbidden West didn't release there until 2024, for instance. It will be the case for the PS5 version of Lost Soul Aside as well, but that's a Chinese-developed title and also releasing on PC day one, where it will be available in China at launch.
The PS2 was not released in China until December 2004, so that makes a lot of sense, actually.

 

[CamHostage]

Showcasing many first-party titles would be pointless as they will not be officially released on the Chinese market anytime soon, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Horizon Forbidden West didn't release there until 2024, for instance. It will be the case for the PS5 version of Lost Soul Aside as well, but that's a Chinese-developed title and also releasing on PC day one, where it will be available in China at launch.

Sure, albeit not truly pointless as that's actually what Sony usually does; their ChinaJoy lineup last year had Ratchet, Horizon FW, Helldivers 2, and AstroBot, plus 3rd Party stuff like NBA 2K and EA Sports FC plus a Sword Art Online game and Gundam Breaker 4. (I don't know what the release date spread for all of those is in the Chinese market, maybe all of those were 2024/early-2025s? Probably everything is faster now and Helldiver might have prioritized the Chinese localization as a MP game, but if it's an international product.) The Sony 2023 lineup actually looked pretty similar, still Horizon FW (and the COTM VR2 game, also even Zero Dawn), still Ratchet, still Helldivers, but also GT7 and Sackboy and some 3rd Party global stuff. I can't find a good list of their announced 2021 or previous lineup (maybe they don't make that announcement usually?) but from what I remember of the show, it's a similar boat of kind-of-new and upcoming stuff, with the uptick in Chinese PS game makers and the CHP program shifting towards a lot more brand new software demos.

Sony's ChinaJoy presence is pleasantly old-school Sony showcasing. They bring their trunk of PS stuff there (which is a bit similar to their old E3 and Gamescom booths where they had their new releases and their upcoming stuff,) and then gave extra room to kiosks of partners which were helping move consoles and fill out the roster. It's timing, it's strategy, it's momentum-building, but in this case, it's local rather than global.

 

[CamHostage]

The PS2 was not released in China until December 2004, so that makes a lot of sense, actually.

True, but that's what I'm saying, that Sony's ChinaJoy presence is specifically for China, even now when the games debuting there end up coming out worldwide. I mean, Sony came into ChinaJoy trying to sell PS2 to an audience now aware that there were already 3 GTAs and 2 Gran Turismos and all that stuff out there, that they were trying to sell the biggest console on the planet to a virtually new audience. They were hyping PS2 around the same time that the rest of the world was getting introduced to the upcoming PSP.

And all I was saying in the end there to Loomy (and I corrected the post a bit,) that it would be nice if Sony could do some of this old-school razzle-dazzle showmanship elsewhere in the world again, aside from video shows. But then again, A) they don't have the breadth of lineup that they used to, and B) putting on a giant show for 300k visitors is still a drop-in-the-bucket effort when trying to reach billions of gamers across the globe with one big show.

 

[nial]

Sure, albeit not truly pointless as that's actually what Sony usually does; their ChinaJoy lineup last year had Ratchet, Horizon FW, Helldivers 2, and AstroBot, plus 3rd Party stuff like NBA 2K and EA Sports FC plus a Sword Art Online game and Gundam Breaker 4. (I don't know what the release date spread for all of those is in the Chinese market, maybe all of those were 2024/early-2025s? Probably everything is faster now and Helldiver might have prioritized the Chinese localization as a MP game, but if it's an international product.) The Sony 2023 lineup actually looked pretty similar, still Horizon FW (and the COTM VR2 game, also even Zero Dawn), still Ratchet, still Helldivers, but also GT7 and Sackboy and some 3rd Party global stuff.

Sony's ChinaJoy presence is pleasantly old-school Sony showcasing. They bring their trunk of PS stuff there (which is a bit similar to their old E3 and Gamescom booths where they had their new releases and their upcoming stuff,) and then gave extra room to kiosks of partners which were helping move consoles and fill out the roster. It's timing, it's strategy, it's momentum-building, but in this case, it's local rather than global.

It's probably that they're not having the console publishing license for much at the moment or any time soon, me thinks. I have a feeling that they will announce new first-party CHP games there.

 

[Felessan]

I Was hoping for Wuthering Waves

Those will have their own booths. No point for Sony to promote chinese online games.
Though if Sony did, Genshin/HSR/ZZZ would be first instead of WuWa

 

[CamHostage]

It's probably that they're not having the console publishing license for much at the moment or any time soon, me thinks. I have a feeling that they will announce new first-party CHP games there.

Potentially, but that's conjecture and hope.

Sony may announce a global deal with more existing CHP developers to publish their game worldwide. They may even announce CHP Phase 4. And they may even sign brand new games to PlayStation 2nd Party deals to publish them worldwide, as they did StellarBlade.

...Or, they may do none of that. Sony's already got a lot going on in China, and this may be a cruise year promoting known titles. (Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of confidence of surprises for new CHP announcements, as the Phase 3 slate is already bigger than normal and saddled with a few projects taking way longer than originally planned, plus other Hero Project programs elsewhere in the world have launched since then. So maybe nothing new there? I'd be happy to be surprised and proven wrong and you correct, for sure!)

Point is, Sony would be doing what it's doing at ChinaJoy this year whether it has great news to bring or not. There's normal "put on a show" work to be done there, one way or another.