Seasoned Gaming Staff Predicts the PlayStation Showcase

This has been one of the busiest gaming weeks in recent memory for the Seasoned Gaming staff. Between the newly released mega-hit The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the games we’re playing for review, the team has been up to their ears in gaming goodness! But even with all that, we stand on the cusp of the first Sony PlayStation showcase in 620 days. So the lads set down their controllers to give you, our loyal readers, their thoughts on what we might see at Sony’s hour-plus event coming up on Wednesday the 24th. Let’s get into it!

Ains : Editor-In-Chief

• I think we finally see the full scope of The Last of Us Factions including a release window in the first half of 2024. 
• PS VR2 titles are a must. I believe we’ll see Beat Saber’s release date, a few surprises, and a known first-party IP get announced for it. 
• We finally see what Bluepoint has been working on and it’s Metal Gear Solid. Again, the release window will be sometime in 2024.
• A look at Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake. 
• First footage of Spider-Man 2 is almost all but a lock including a release date around October. 
• First trailer for Alan Wake 2 from Remedy. 
• The first full look at Ubisoft’s Avatar Frontiers of Pandora game.
• We’ll see the first look at whatever HouseMarque has been working on. 
• We’ll see at least one new third-party deal being struck on the PS5.
  
• New hardware in some form but not console/handheld related. Will be controllers and I’m hopeful we’ll finally see officially licensed PS5 plates.
• Lastly, I’ll say this just because I want it to be true – something to do with Bloodborne remaster/remake.

Steve Esposito : Senior Contributor/Editor

I’d like to say that everything is a “maybe” for me except for a few:

• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – We know already time is just running out, we know it is coming, and we know it will be around the holiday season.
• Final Fantasy 16 – Once again, the clock is just ticking on this one. I’m calling this the “Deathloop” of PlayStation trailers and events. 
• PSVR2 Reel – A bunch of hot titles, what will be in it is beyond me. 
• Twisted Metal TV spot – We know they can’t resist showing us a tiny bit of what is there to offer.
• Metal Gear Something – I know the rumors state an MGS3 remake and that would make sense as they are trying to copy off the success of what Capcom has done with the Resident Evil franchise. 
• Armored Core spot – We know it will be soon, give me more mechs.
• More controller colors – Why not? Let’s get flashy, this console has been out for a while now. 
• PS5 Pro – Screw it. Let’s follow up on the controllers with an update on a system that is newer than the Nintendo Switch.
• Resistance – Some return whether that be a remake or a trilogy pack. Listen, I wouldn’t be for this but they keep on reminding us that this game exists in one form or another. Why waste social media presence? 
• Horizon MP Game – We got these games as a service thing going down, might as well start off with this. We know it was in production for a bit.
• Something Star Trek related – I don’t know what but I have a feeling in my bones on this one. No pun intended. 
• Gran Turismo Update -Sony won’t miss the chance to show off their movie tie-in
• The Last of Us Factions – Just throwing this up there as a part of their live service push
• Elden Ring spot – Showing off the upcoming DLC (and their relationship with FROM Software)
• Death Stranding spot – Reminding the world that they are best buds with Kojima
• StarCraft Ghost – If you know me you know why this is here.

Eric Bezanson : Senior Contributor

• Likely to be there: The Last of Us Factions
  Sony is very clearly making big plays to try and enter the games as a service market, with Jim Ryan confirming as many as 10 live service games being in active development across PlayStation Studios. While we are currently waiting to see what a service title built with the full weight of Sony behind it may look like, long-time fans are also worried about what this could do to the status quo.
  The Last of Us factions could very well answer both of these questions with a gameplay reveal during the PlayStation Showcase. Originally slated to launch with the Last of Us Part II back in 2020, the scope of the multiplayer “Factions” mode grew in scope to the point where it became its own stand-alone product. Having been teased last summer during Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest showcase via a piece of concept art, a full proper reveal seems very likely.
• Could be there: Twisted Metal
  Twisted Metal was personally my favorite franchise from the early days of PlayStation and so when I heard it was getting a next-gen reboot I was quite excited. Starting development sometime in 2021 by way of the London-based team at Lucid Games, it had been reported that the game had changed developers at some point in 2022.
  With the TV show from the people behind Zombieland and Deadpool coming to Hulu this summer, it could make sense for Sony to pair the excitement behind the game’s reboot with a cross-promotion campaign. It’s a tactic that worked well for them with HBO’s The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 1’s PC release earlier this year.
• Longshot to be there: Bloodborne-anything
  It’s a meme at this point but I’m never gonna stop believing. The game was way too successful and way too beloved by fans to let die on the vine. From Software is kind of overloaded with both the upcoming Elden Ring DLC as well as Armored Core which is set to launch this summer, but Sony is no stranger to announcing titles extremely early. In fact, one of their best showcases in recent memory revealed Final Fantasy 7 Remake well before launch as well as the announcement of a Kickstarter for Shenmue III.
  At this point though the rabid fanbase of the Lovecraftian souls game will settle for anything. A 60 fps patch from the XDEV team? A logo? Heck, even a wink and a nod would get me excited at this point!

Bryan Finck : Contributor

Mortal Locks

• Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake – This has been talked about so much at this point it’s almost certainly real. With the rumored deal between Konami and Sony opening the floodgates for remakes, it’s perfectly sensible to start with the chronological first game of their most popular series. But who will be making it? Bluepoint is Sony’s first-party remake specialist, but this could be an internal Konami project too.
• Team Asobi’s new game – Everyone assumes this will be a new AstroBot game, and I’m hoping they’re right because Sony desperately needs a mascot platformer of the quality that was teased with PS5’s pack-in title. The real question is, will it be PSVR2 exclusive, only for flat-screeners, or both?
• Final Fantasy 16 release trailer – With just over a month until this massive title drops, we’re certainly going to get a release trailer, if for no other reason than Sony wanting to wave its console-exclusive foam finger around a bit. Most fans don’t want to see more at this point, but Sony won’t be able to resist. 
• Lots of PSVR2 – This is known to be a big part of the showcase, but with Jim Ryan recently saying it’s too early to judge the success of PSVR2, expect to see Sony go hard with new games for their latest peripheral. The question is, will any of it be 1st party content, and have they managed to convince Valve to let them port Half-Life: Alyx?
• More PC ports – Sony didn’t buy Nixxes to let them sit on the sidelines, so I think they will show at least one or two new PC ports. Demons’ Souls and Ghost of Tsushima are the biggest first-party games that still haven’t gotten the PC treatment (The Last of Us Part 2 as well, but after how Part 1’s port has gone, I think Sony will take more time with that one).

Definitely Maybe

• Housemarque’s new game revealed – The Finnish studio has confirmed they are working on a new IP, and while it won’t be a return to their twin-stick glory days, expect something that plays to a combination of their strengths after proving they can pull off a AAA game like Returnal.
• Cory Barlog’s new game – Sony Santa Monica is fresh off their release of God of War: Ragnarok, but we all know superstar director Cory Barlog has been percolating something for much longer than that. Barlog is one of Sony’s most recognizable talents and this feels like the perfect time to show what he and his team have been working on, which will create a huge splash no matter what it turns out to be. 
• New Uncharted game – This was almost certainly teased in Sony’s recent commercial campaign, and it seems like the right time for Uncharted to make a triumphant return and be acknowledged for real. It will be very interesting, and important to the discourse that will follow the game, to see who is developing one of gaming’s most recognized IP.
• Kingdom Hearts 4 new trailer – Sony and Square Enix are as close a publisher and third-party developer can be, so where else would we expect to see Kingdom Hearts 4 get its true reveal? 

Don’t Hold Your Breath

• NCAA College Football ’25 revealed – Only one year away from the truly massive return of this franchise, it’s definitely time to see what EA is working on. But the publisher isn’t one to play favorites in the console space, so while it would be a massive get, it’s more likely NCAA is revealed at a platform-agnostic event later this summer. 
• Persona 6 revealed – While the franchise has a long history with Sony, Atlus seems to be cuddling much closer to Microsoft these days, so I would be very surprised to see this before next month’s Xbox showcase.
• Pragmata re-revealed – After debuting at Sony’s PS5 reveal showcase in 2020 and then announcing in 2021 that the game was delayed until 2023, there’s been less than zero heard about this gorgeous but enigmatic title. Capcom is on such a roll that I could see it happening, but that’s just blind faith at this point. The company may be too busy with Street Fighter 6 and the piles of money they are making on Resident Evil remasters to care about this one yet. 

So there you go fans, we’ve had our turn at predicting what Sony will show off, now it’s your shot! Hit the comments with your best guesses and keep your eyes on the pages of Seasoned Gaming later this week to learn about what was actually at the showcase!