On June 11, at 9 pm BST, Sony began its Future Of Gaming stream. The event, which has amassed over 11 million views on YouTube alone, promised to let gamers get their first glimpse of some PlayStation 5 games and gameplay.
We had little idea what to expect, but after years of relative silence, Sony brought us teasers, trailers and gameplay clips for 26 games. Names old and new graced our screens, showing everything from triple-A blockbusters, like Resident Evil Village and Gran Turismo 7, to quirky indie titles, like Stray and Kena: Bridge of Spirits. (It was even great to see that some of our wish list made it in.)
Here's a list of the games that were revealed by Sony on the Future Of Gaming stream.
Grand Theft Auto V… again
The first reveal came in the form of a PS4 trailer for Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar’s unstoppable open-world chaos simulator is making it to the PS5, meaning that the game has made it onto every console generation since 2013 and the PS3. The game will apparently take full advantage of the new system's power.
GTA Online will also be available separately from the main title itself. In a press release, Sony explained that all PS5 owners will have access to the Online game for “free within the first three months of the title launching.” For existing players, from June 11, “all GTAV PS4 owners will get GTA$1,000,000 every month until the PS5 version of the game launches in 2021.”
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
The first new title to be trailered was Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Following on from the immense success of Marvel and Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man, this expansion appears to have the players take control of Mile Morales as he swings his way around NYC.
Gran Turismo 7
Gran Turismo was next up, with the racing sim giving viewers a stunning trailer, followed by a quick look at the game’s menu and a few minutes of gameplay. The series is a mainstay of the PlayStation, and is a very good bar to measure the console's capability against - and we have to say, so far, so good.
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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Another mainstay of the PlayStation catalogue, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gave us a dimension shifting roller-coaster ride through the game’s signature cartoonish alien landscapes and OTT blaster fights, right before introducing a new character…
Project Athia
Square Enix and Luminous Productions followed up with one of the more mysterious trailers of the event. The teaser appeared to show a female protagonist travelling through various stunning, supernatural, and perilous landscapes. Other than the fact it looked brilliant, not much was given away about Project Athia. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, however, the game has been described as “a thrilling other-worldly adventure – it is going to be action-packed, and at times twisted, tempestuous, and forbidding.”
Stray
In a world devoid of human life, the cities are populated by emoting robots. The mood is darkly comic, and the trailer follows a stray cat. According to PlayStation’s write up, in the indie title Stray, “the cat must find its way home, and perhaps help the city along the way.” A game where we potentially get to play as a cat? Worth keeping an eye on.
Returnal
Watching like a cross between Tom Cruise’s Edge Of Tomorrow and Alex Garland’s Annihilation, this sci-fi horror-thriller is just one of the time looping games to feature in the reveals. The premise of the game revolves around a woman trying to keep hold of her sanity whilst reliving her death with increasing intensity. It was certainly an intense watch.
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Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Sackboy is back! No longer under the title of LittleBigPlanet, the cute little ragdoll seems to be doing what he always does – adventuring through bizarre and characterful platforming levels. It all seems business as usual, albeit with an interesting, 3D camera position added into the mix.
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Destruction Allstars
Destruction Allstars will excite any gamer who remembers the chaotic delights of destruction derby racers of years gone by. The trailer is pretty much a non-stop ride of mechanical mayhem, with a splattering of Fortnite-esque character design.
Kena: Bridge Of Spirits
Kena grabbed our attention immediately. Developer Ember Lab has a history in animation, and you can tell. The second indie title to be revealed during the event, the game’s stunning art style is arresting, and the combination of action-adventure gameplay and supernatural story has us very, very intrigued.
Goodbye Volcano High
A far more introverted title than any other games previewed at the event, Goodbye Volcano High is an indie title focussed on heartfelt storytelling. The comic book animation style is unique, and it's certain to find a dedicated cult following, and quickly.
Oddworld: Soulstorm
Players will be reunited with the sewn-mouthed Abe once more, as the acclaimed Oddworld series will be returning for the PS5. According to the developer, the game’s scope and depth has been expanded by the PS5’s hardware, and has improved their ability “to bring you closer to the game and to create an even deeper emotional Oddworld experience…”.
Ghostwire Tokyo
A lot was going on in Ghostwire Tokyo’s trailer. It appears to be a supernatural horror action game, with plenty of ghosts, ghouls, and creepy apparitions to keep the player on edge. The clips of gameplay would seem to suggest that this game may be making an appearance on PSVR, or at least support the device.
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Jett: The Far Shore
Another enigmatic trailer. It was tough to tell what was happening, but it sure did pique our interest. According to PlayStation, it’s a “bittersweet interstellar trip to a mythic oceanic planet in a narrative-driven action-adventure, featuring an emotional mix of storytelling and world exploration.”
Godfall
Godfall is a game we’ve know about for a while, but we finally got to see it in action. It’s a hack-and-slash loot-crawler, with crisp and bright worlds, and super-stylised heroes. The question is, will this just be an over-the-shoulder Diablo, or something a little special?
NBA 2K21
The trailer for NBA 2K21 was strangely atmospheric for a basketball game. It focused on one player, Zion Williamson, as he practised on an empty court. It was all very cool, but what the trailer worked to show was the level of detail possible on the PS5 – especially when you consider how good it looked, despite the stream being limited to only 1080p.
Solar Ash
Coming from the brains behind the acclaimed indie-hit Hyper Light Drifter, Solar Ash appears to be an equally highly stylised and surreal game. The trailer hints towards bigger and better things than we’ve seen from the studio previously, and we can’t wait.
Hitman III
IO Interactive’s trailer for Hitman III was solemn and moody. Tense forest-hunts were interspersed with gameplay shots, profile clips of Agent 47, and ends with “DEATH AWAITS, JANUARY 2021”. It certainly made an impact.
Astro’s Playroom
The PSVR’s platforming mascot is heading for the PS5. The trailer was good, but offered up little in the way of anything ‘new’ for the series. However, as a VR game, may we be so bold as to hope for the PSVR 2?
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Little Devil Inside
The comic juxtaposition between clips of an elderly professor going about his daily business, and those showing a young man haphazardly swinging over ravines and fighting dragons, was enough to allow Little Devil Inside to claim its place amongst the most enticing trailers of Sony’s event.
Bugsnax
What is there to say about Bugsnax? From the creators of meme-goldmine Octodad, this game sees the bizarre inhabitants of an island becoming, literally, what they eat. Couple that with the trippy soundtrack, and you’ll see why the internet was left thinking “…what?”.
Demon’s Soul
The rumours were confirmed in grand style. The PS3 gothic cult-favourite is getting a full remake for the PS5. The original game was enough to spur on the uber-tough Dark Souls series, so newcomers to the game, brace yourselves.
Deathloop
Arkane Studio’s and Bethesda’s Deathloop was given quite a long slot, allowing the trailer, gameplay, and developer discussions to take place. This stylish FPS promises to simultaneously offer the player freedom, whilst also trapping them in a looping deathmatch against a rival hitman.
Resident Evil Village
The trailer for Resident Evil Village is tense, uncomfortable, and beautifully detailed. Both graphically and narratively, this instalment of the series appears to be trying something refreshingly new. Oh, and whoever thought of the title reveal at the close of the trailer deserves a raise.
Pragmata
Capcom’s Pragmata is one of the most visually stunning trailers we’ve ever seen. It appears to take place in a futuristic post-apocalypse, and sees a high-tech astronaut adventuring the empty city streets with an unusual little girl. The teaser includes ghostly cyber projections and a falling satellite, and ends on the moon. We don’t know what’s going on, but we can’t wait to find out.
Horizon: Forbidden West
Horizon: Forbidden West, the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, was the last trailer to be shown, and what a trailer. Aloy is back, and the world that’s available to explore appears to be vast. Promising diverse biomes, new mechs, and new dangers, Guerilla appears to be taking all that the PS5’s hardware has to offer to bring a game on a scale never before seen. Well, let’s hope that’s the case.
And after all the trailers? Sony weren't done with us. They revealed the console! But that's a whole different story.
Watch the Future Of Gaming event now on YouTube.