The Gamer Log Breakdown Of The
Playstation Summer Game Fest state of play
May 30, 2024
Playstation kicks off the summer showcases with a mild-mannered State of play featuring 14 games
While not being a part of Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest in an official capacity, this marked the start of the season of hype for the gaming industry. Appearing just a few days before the SGF kickoff event, this show is going to be lumped into the same field as the rest. And as such, the summer showcases are when the industry will generally show off their biggest announcements and get the fans as hyped as possible for what is to come in the rest of the year and moving forward. Unfortunately, this State of Play doesn’t seem to be doing that, and as such, feels a little lackluster when viewed through that inevitable lens. That being said, there are still some solid showings on display here. The Gamer Log is here to help you sort through what was on display to help you find what is going to be most relevant to you as a Playstation fan moving into the back half of 2024 and beyond.
Sony State of Play Lineup
Concord – We got a beefy cinematic to introduce everyone to some of the characters in this world, and they followed that up with a first look at the gameplay for one of Sony’s major live-service games moving forward. It seems to be a pretty standard 5v5 hero shooter, much in the vein of Overwatch. They announced a beta coming later this year before a global launch on PS5 and PC slated for August 23, 2024.
God of War Ragnarok PC Release – Sony Santa Monica’s massive hit from 2022 is finally coming to PC on September 19. This was one of my favorite games of the year when it originally released, and I’m excited for a whole new demographic of gamers to get the opportunity to experience it. This is a game you definitely don’t want to skip if you love character action games with intense narratives and engaging gameplay.
Dynasty Warriors Origins – A surprise announcement for me, but a welcome one at that. I have never been the biggest fan of the musou genre, but they, nevertheless, always provide a fun and energetic experience. It has been a while since we got a new entrant in this historic franchise, so this was an exciting look at a game that will surely provide hours of fun coming next year. This will mark the first time the franchise has visited the Three Kingdoms Era, and I can’t wait to see how they change up the formula while retaining the style and gameplay that has made them a staple of the industry for decades.
Infinity Nikki – This game is being described as an open-world dress-up adventure game. I don’t quite know what to make of it, but the visuals look great. It has Kentaro Tominaga, former Zelda director, attached to the project. This is the newest installment in a series of games that has a massive fan-base around the world, so it will be interesting to see how this newest and biggest swing will land.
Where Winds Meet – This is a game that was originally announced at Gamescom last year, and it got another showing here – though there still isn’t alot of concrete information that can be gleaned from the presentation. We did get a look at the high impact and fast paced one on one combat in this trailer, and it certainly seems to be one to watch as we move forward. The visuals and music provide a great representation of the Ten Kingdoms Era. Unfortunately, no information as to when we can expect to get our hands on it was provided.
Ballad of Antara – A dark fantasy RPG set to release next year, this seemed to come out of nowhere for me. It is a brand-new IP from Chinese developer, TipsWorks Studio, best known for 2020’s Pascal’s Wager. They are marketing themselves as a high-fidelity free-to-play experience. There is a lot of baggage, both good and bad, that comes with a label like that, so only time will tell how this title will sit in that landscape.
Behemoth – The next VR project from Skydance Games, the studio behind The Walking Dead Saints and Sinners. Set in a once-great civilization that is now a barren wasteland known as the Forsaken Lands, players will have to endure a hostile environment and deadly enemies to uncover dark secrets hidden therein. As per their official website, this title will be coming to PSVR2, as well as Steam VR and Meta Quest, sometime in October.
Alien: Rogue Incursion – Few IPs can boast the atmosphere and design present in the Alien franchise, and this new VR title seems to be making the most of that. Survios is a studio well-known in the VR landscape, and they are bringing this world into VR for the first time. You will be able to explore a mysterious facility over-run by Xenomorphs on an inhospitable planet called Purdan. This game will be coming to PSVR2, Meta Quest and Steam VR this holiday season.
Marvel Rivals – This is another hero shooter coming to PS5, as well as PC and Mac, though there is no release date at the moment. However, it seems to feature many favorite characters for those who love the Marvel universe. From X-Men to Iron-Man, there looks to be no shortage of distinct characters to pick from, and the gameplay on show gave a glimpse into the unique abilities and powers available to each individual hero.
Until Dawn – At the last State of Play back in January, this project was revealed as a new release of this fan-favorite title from 2015. The graphics and animations seem to be enhanced for PS5 and PC, and we got another extended look at it here. There is still no firm release date, but this update did give a Fall 2024 window.
Path of Exile 2 – The much anticipated sequel to its decade old predecessor, this new look gave us a Early Access release date of Late 2024. The big news from Grinding Gears Games here is the inclusion of couch co-op support, and a glimpse of some very strong gameplay. It remains to be seen how this will stack up compared to the first game, but hopes have been high for some time – and this was another good showing in the lead-up to the early access release later this year.
Silent Hill 2 – This is another update for a game shown off at the beginning of the year, and this time the Konami remake finally recieved a release date. Players will be able to get their hands on this remake of the psychological horror classic on October 8, 2024. A Halloween season release date seems the perfect time to dive back into the story of James Sunderland, and we got another look at environments and combat we can expect to get when we do. Things are looking much better than the last time we saw this game, so expectations are sure to be on the rise.
Monster Hunter: Wilds – After being announced at the 2023 Game Awards, fans of the long-running series finally got another look at what is already one of 2025’s most anticipated releases. While still not an extensive look at what is to come, CAPCOM did provide a brief look at the stunning environments and new monsters that will be the bedrock of this new entry. The gameplay we got to see looks tight and engaging, which is only to be expected from one of video games’ biggest IPs.
Astro Bot – This was the final showing of the State of Play, and it delivered in a big way. Team Asobi has shown they have the chops to compete in the character platforming genre – one that has long been absolutely dominated by the giant shadow of Super Mario. Previous Astro Bot titles haven’t necessarily been on that level, but they are one of the few who have the design to at least rival the Nintendo goliath. This looks to be, by far, the biggest Astro Bot game we have ever seen. It is a true home run swing from a developer that deserves the chance to take it. Promising over 80 levels spanning six galaxies, this game will take players on a journey in search of Astro’s missing crew members. The last time we saw Astro was in Astro’s Playroom, which was packaged with the PS5 and operated as a love letter to Sony’s most beloved IPs. This seems to be following that blueprint with catchy music and characters that display clear references to some of the great pillars of Playstation. The best part of this entire trailer was learning that the wait for this release will be a few mere months, as it was capped off with a September 6 release date.
While they did not market this as a Playstation Showcase, most fans would have expected more from them despite the State of Play label. This level of show is fine and expected early in the year, but as stated previously, the summer is the time to pull out the big guns. To be honest, I just don’t think Sony has many big guns to show off at this time. While Playstation fans have been eating good the past couple years, this is an inevitable fallow period while their first party studios work on the next wave of big blockbusters. That, mixed with the not-well-recieved shift in focus to live-service titles means there just isn’t much on note on display. That isn’t to say there were no noteworthy announcements. Astro Bot is going to be one of the biggest Playstation releases this year, but the rest are going to be coming from third parties and indie developers. This is probably going to be something we continue to see from most of the industry this year.
Thank you again for coming to the Gamer Log. I sincerely hope this breakdown has helped find the diamonds in the rough throughout this State of Play as we get ready for the rest of Summer Game Fest and the industry celebrates gaming moving into the rest of 2024.
