PlayStation Showcase 2023
E126: A recap of all major announcements from the PlayStation Showcase.
Good morning gamers! Last week Sony hosted their 2023 PlayStation Showcase. The showcase featured first looks at all-new games, and some updates on major upcoming PlayStation Studios' titles. Let’s get right into it!
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 revealed its first-ever gameplay. It included the introduction of Kraven the Hunter who will be heading to New York to hunt Spider-Man, Miles Morales and several other villains. The gameplay also showcased Spider-Man infected with the Venom symbiote. Spider-Man 2 is set to launch Fall 2023 exclusively for PS5.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater covers the origin story of the iconic military operative Snake and the plot of the Metal Gear series. The game is bringing new graphics, immersive stealth action and riveting sounds to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Alan Wake 2 is the sequel to Alan Wake (2010), the award-winning action-thriller from Remedy Entertainment. FBI agent Saga Anderson and Alan Wake must break free from the horror story to save the small town of Bright Falls. The game launches on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 17th.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage showcased a new trailer featuring Basim, a thief having nightmarish visions who is seeking answers and justice. Basim learned unique abilities once he fled Baghdad and joined an ancient organization, The Hidden Ones. The game launches on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S on October 12th.
Marathon is a new sci-fi PvP extraction shooter from Bungie. Players will take on the role of cybernetic mercenaries known as Runners, exploring a lost colony on the planet Tau Ceti IV. The game is in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape is the next expansion set to be released by Bungie and is supposed to serve as the conclusion to The Light and Darkness Saga. Bungie will reveal more on August 22nd during their Destiny Showcase.
Fairgame$ is a competitive modern heist game where you team up and break into exotic locations to steal cargo. Players will have to outsmart guards, security systems and other teams. The game is launching on PC and PS5 at an unannounced date.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the sequel to the 2012 game. The RPG will build on its predecessor by offering players an immersive fantasy world full of adventures. The game is in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Phantom Blade Zero is a new action RPG from S-Game. The game is the spiritual rebirth of the original Rainblood but larger, richer and built on Unreal Engine 5. Players take on the role of Soul, an elite assassin serving a powerful organization called “The Order”. The game will launch exclusively for PC and PS5 (for now).
Project Q is an 8-inch HD screen attached to DualSense style grips which will allow people with a PS5 to stream their games over WiFi. The LCD screen is capable of up to 1080p resolution at 60 FPS for any compatible game installed on your PS5 console. Unfortunately, players will need to maintain a constant connection to the internet to use the device.
Esports Corner
🥇Congratulations to the NYC Subliners for winning the Call of Duty League 2023: Stage 5 Major.
FaZe Clan, one of the world’s most popular gaming brands is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their stock has plummeted to $0.55, their owners are rumored to be divesting their shares, they just laid off roughly 40% of the remaining staff and co-owner Nordan “Rain” Shat has publicized their esports financials. FaZe is reportedly losing $750,000 a month on their esports division, including $576,000 from the CS:GO team alone (although, the CS:GO division also generates about $514,000 in revenue per month). Additionally, Nick Mercs apparently receives $1m per year since he joined the organization in 2018.
League of Legends pro Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk and CS:GO pro Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen both set major esports records in May. Ruler has officially won all major League of Legends titles (Worlds, LCK, LPL and the MSI) while Dupreeh became the first CS:GO player to surpass the $2m tournament earnings milestone.
As part of a marketing initiative between Bell Media and Call of Duty League team the Toronto Ultra, Bell has insured each player's fingers for $1 million. The campaign is dubbed “Million Dollar Finger$” and is part of Bell’s partnership with Overactive Media aimed towards reinforcing the legitimacy of esports as a professional sport.
LCS players (North American League of Legends) have “overwhelmingly passed” a vote to walkout in protest of Riot’s recent changes to the Challengers League circuit (Riot removed the mandate for LCS teams to also field a NACL team without consulting the players or the players association). This means that the LCS won’t begin on its planned June 1st start date, and there’s been no statement by Riot as of yet.
Gaming Roundup
Naughty Dog has reportedly “significantly scaled down” the team working on their The Last of Us multiplayer project as they reassess the game.
Days Gone 2 “could have been out a month ago” says game director Jeff Ross in response to Sony’s PlayStation Showcase announcements.
Undawn starring Will Smith will release on June 15 for Mobile and PC. It’s a Free-to-play open-world survival RPG by Tencent.
Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida said they didn’t go into development with exclusivity in mind, they approached multiple platforms and companies.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake has been fully rebooted by Ubisoft Montreal and is back in “early development”. No release date has been set.
Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars game is reportedly aiming for a 2024 release date. It’s being developed by Massive Entertainment, the studio behind The Division.
John Wick AAA game is in the works according to Motion Picture Group chairman Joe Drake. This is part of their expansion of the John Wick universe across all entertainment media.
Dead Island 2 sold more than 2 million copies since launch (1 million over opening weekend). Two new story expansions are scheduled to release during the first year.
Microsoft has officially filed to appeal the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decision to block its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King.
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