Following Sony's September PlayStation Showcase, which featured two Marvel-themed show-stopping reveals from Insomniac Games, it's been revealed that fans don't have to wait much longer for a similar follow up event. This Wednesday, the publisher's traditional State of Play presentation will be making its anticipated return at 2:00pm PT. With the event only a few days away, there's already been a handful of unofficial hints that suggest fans have reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the content coming their way.
In the run up to each PlayStation event in 2021, Sony has made a concentrated effort to set expectations by outlining the sorts of reveals fans can expect ahead of time. This Wednesday's State of Play is no exception, with the publisher preemptively declaring that third-party PS4 and PS5 software will be taking the spotlight. That means fans shouldn't expect any first party PlayStation studios to appear. Considering Sony events have come every two months recently, there's a chance that a PlayStation Experience-style event could be on the cards in December specifically for those. Keeping these factors in mind, it becomes possible to predict what could feature.
Final Fantasy 16
Based on a bit of detective work from fans, it looks like there's a possibility that Square Enix's Final Fantasy 16 could make up a sizable portion of the upcoming State of Play presentation. Early last week, it was discovered that Sony has updated a number of pages on its official website dedicated to the upcoming JRPG. Considering the event announcement that the publisher then made on Friday, the timing of those revisions now looks mighty suspicious. The way in which Sony plans out its State of Plays, means it's theoretically plausible that the website updates were published following confirmation that the game will be in attendance.
Having debuted during 2020's PS5 Showcase, fans have been patiently waiting over a year at this point for another look at the next mainline entry in Square Enix's iconic franchise. Reports from the studio have suggested that work on the game is progressing well, which has helped create a sense that a public update is now overdue.
What's more, during September's PlayStation Showcase, a possible release date tease was spotted within the "Play Has No Limits" live action trailer. This seemingly suggested the game's launch could be penciled in for June 16, 2022. While a number of high profile gaming events will take place between now and then, this week's State of Play would be the ideal venue for Final Fantasy 16 to once again take up a large portion of the spotlight.
Indie Games
Since the reveal of the PS4, Sony has dedicated an extended amount of time during its PlayStation events to exciting indie developed games. When it comes to third-party collaborations that the publisher has signed with smaller studios, there's a long list of games that could theoretically show up during Wednesday's State of Play. Even though each has featured at one point or another during a PlayStation event in 2021 already, the rapidly approaching release dates for Stray, Sifu, and Solar Ash over the next few months could ensure that they appear again.
Further ahead, there's several indie games that were revealed during the PS5's first public showing last summer that haven't shown up during a presentation since. It seems highly likely that fans will get an update on titles like Goodbye Volcano High and Little Devil Inside soon, considering that each is expected to launch on Sony's latest console over the next 12 months. With the collective eyes of the PlayStation community tuning in to watch this week's State of Play, now would be the ideal time to give both the attention they deserve.
Third-Party Partners
Whilst creating and marketing the PS5, Sony has placed an ever greater importance on signing deals with third-party developers for timed console exclusive games and content. With the details of a number of these agreements having been made common knowledge, it's possible to predict a few of the titles that could show up thanks to possible contractual obligations during the event.
Since Deathloop was unveiled to the world for example, Arkane's shooter had appeared routinely during Sony's presentations, to the point that fans have half-jokingly predicted it will show up again on Wednesday. Unless a surprise DLC expansion is announced for the recently released game though, it seems much more likely that Bethesda's Ghostwire: Tokyo will take its place instead. Considering Halloween is only a few days away, the mood seems perfect for the horror title to shine.
With 2021 quickly coming to an end, a number of third party developers who have releases coming up over the next few months will want to give games a last-minute marketing push. Activision's Call of Duty franchise is one of these that has an exclusive content and promotional agreement with PlayStation, which could make Vanguard a likely candidate to show up ahead of its launch next week. Based on the fact that each of the titles contained within Rockstar Games' upcoming remastered Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy initially launched on the PS2 back in the day, there's a chance that the game could also make a brief cameo appearance during Sony's event.
Looking further ahead into 2022, while Sony was busy updating its Final Fantasy 16 web pages, a number of other third party titles received the same treatment. Alongside Square's JRPG, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum and the indie game Tchia were both updated out of the blue. Unlike a lot of the other titles that had their web pages altered at the same time, these two haven't had official updates from each's developer in recent weeks, which could make both candidates to appear.
Even though fans will naturally be disappointed that it seems unlikely any of PlayStation's first party studios will be joining in on the action, there should still be plenty of exciting content to look forward to during the 20 minute presentation.