If Santa Monica Studio's recent God of War: Ragnarok trailer is any indicator of the game's ultimate quality, PS5 and PS4 owners should be in for a treat when Kratos' final Norse themed chapter hopefully launches at some point in 2022. Despite the backlash that sprung up in the aftermath of the game's delay earlier this year, the studio's decision has already been vindicated on multiple fronts. Standing by one of it's injured lead actors Christopher Judge during his personal struggles is heartwarming, and should be the moral standard for other studios and publishers to learn from.
In terms of the wider gaming industry, it's turned out that delaying God of War: Ragnarok into 2022 has also had a positive impact on the health of the PlayStation ecosystem, too. Between a cavalcade of upcoming first party developed games, significant third party collaborations, and the imminently expected PSVR 2, Kratos is now set to become the figurehead of what should prove to be an incredible 12 months for Sony.
Sony's 2022 First Party Games
It's fair to say that over the last 18 months, Sony has been on something of a roll when it comes to first party software. In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing PS5 shortages, the publisher has still managed to launch a consistent stream of critically acclaimed internally developed hits. This phenomenon was arguably best demonstrated in action earlier this year, when Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, and MLB The Show 21 all launched within two months of each other. While God of War: Ragnarok was initially expected to join these games this year, its delay now means it looks set to lead an entirely different list of blockbuster games instead.
Barring any delays, Sony's internal release schedule for next year already includes the aforementioned Norse themed epic, the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Horizon Forbidden West, and Gran Turismo 7. Naturally, there's no guarantee as to the ultimate state that any of these games will ship in, but considering the track record of the developers behind each title, it's not too much of a stretch to envision them all cultivating a level of critical and commercial success. At least on paper, this eclectic mix could theoretically go down as one of the publisher's best overall lineups in recent memory, thanks in-part to God of War: Ragnarok's delay. What could be worth keeping in mind is that Kratos' adventure is the only game on the list that's not currently set for a release in the first half of 2022, which leaves ample space for other first party PS4 and PS5 games to come into the picture as well.
Sony's Third Party Partnerships
One prominent aspect of Sony's strategy of late has been to sign deals with external third party publishers and developers, for timed and console exclusive PS4 and PS5 games. Due to the hardships and struggles of the pandemic, a lot of these partnerships are set to bear fruit in close proximity to each other over the next 12 months. God of War: Ragnarok's delay therefore ensures that Kratos is about to rub shoulders with an even greater list of exciting PlayStation bound games, beyond Sony's first party stable.
Titles like Square Enix's Forspoken and Final Fantasy 16 arguably lead this particular charge, with the former IP penciled in to make its console debut on PS5 at some point in the spring. When it comes to the latter, developers within Square have been rather bullish of late in regards to the progress the publisher has made on the next mainline entry in the iconic JRPG franchise, suggesting a 2022 release date announcement isn't that far away. Of the other known third party timed PlayStation exclusives scheduled to launch next year, Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire: Tokyo is likely to have an increased and exciting presence within Sony's lineup and marketing too, now that Bethesda's Deathloop has been released.
Despite receiving understandable criticism from several developers in recent months, Sony also has a promising list of indie games coming to PS4 and PS5 over the next year that will no doubt provide depth, diversity, and originality to its platforms. Games like Sloclap's Sifu and BlueTwelve Studio's Stray headline this particular aspect of the publisher's incredible 2022 lineup, with both games aiming to captivate the imaginations and hearts of players. With rumors surrounding Konami's Silent Hill franchise and a possible Sony-funded collaboration refusing to go away, there's a chance that the third party exclusives coming to PlayStation platforms will only grow from other unannounced deals as well.
The incoming PSVR 2
Earlier this year, in rather unceremonious fashion, Sony confirmed that it plans to release a second generation virtual reality headset exclusively for the PS5 at some point in the near future. Right now there's no confirmed release date attached to the project, but it's not an unreasonable assumption to make based on the publisher's own comments, that it will at the very least talk about the platform more next year. If insiders are to be believed, a late 2022 release isn't completely out of the question yet, either. It likely depends on how the PS5 stock shortage situation plays out, though its release would surely help push PlayStation's year to an even higher level.
Even though virtual reality gaming is understandably not to everyone's tastes, Sony's second swing at the medium should still be on the radar of players who have no interest in it. That's because, from the cryptic details that have been revealed about the platform already from the publisher and reputable insiders, there appears to have been an emphasis placed during its creation on the development of VR games that more closely emulate Capcom's Resident Evil 7. What's notable in part about the horror title is the fact that, when it launched in 2017, it was playable on both the PS4 and the original PlayStation VR headset in its entirety.
As such, there's a chance that Sony's PSVR 2 will launch with more hybrid-style games that can be played both on the new headset and a traditional TV setup. If the device does eventually hit store shelves in 2022, the previously mentioned lineup of PlayStation exclusives will likely grow even more to include new games that can be played completely on both formats. It stands to reason that Sony will want to market and launch its device with currently unannounced titles, similarly to how it's always treated new platform debuts. Adding the delayed God of War: Ragnarok into that packed mix should therefore set PlayStation owners up for a truly unforgettable year of releases.
God of War: Ragnarok is scheduled to launch on PS4 and PS5 next year.