PLAY’s 180-page special details everything Summer Games Fest and beyond

PLAY #16 is out now! Sitting at 180-pages, this massive Hot 50 special gets into everything non-’E3’, highlighting the biggest games in PlayStation’s future showcased at Summer Games Fest, Future Game Show, Day Of The Devs, and beyond. We’ve gone all around the world for this one, between America’s East and West coast, and even Japan. Plus, PSVR2’s revealed games, 36-pages of reviews, RetroStation, and more!

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The Hot 50

No E3? No problem. Between Summer Game Fest, PlayStation’s own broadcasts, and invites to meet behind closed doors with various publishers, this summer has begun to feel like business as usual. There’s loads to look forward towards, and – as we love – games that’ll define the medium’s future.

You could read all about our picks for the biggest on the horizon in the annual Hot 50, all packed into this hefty 180-page tome that you can buy right now. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is shaping up to be a terrfically fresh take on the superhero genre, and is just one of the deep dives within the chunky list, which includes some great developer access and hands-on impressions (with more to come in future issues)!

If you’d asked us about the Hot 50 at the start of the year, we might have felt anxious, but now we struggled to fit in all our upcoming favourites. Gaming is starting to heat up indeed, and there’s loads that are new-gen only on PS5.

While it used to be that games that played in the tie-in space were more often than not disappointments, we’re starting to see an era where gaming can be the crown jewel of cross-media franchises. Whether that’s the swathes of superhero games like, as we mentioned above, Midnight Suns, Gotham Knights, or Spider-Man 2, or the likes of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor – just one of a whole host of Star Wars titles coming up. Not to mention a brand new Witcher, based on the books.

It’s not a one way street, either. While God Of War Ragnarök (p106) is one of our most anticipated games ever, it’s also one of PlayStation’s newly announced TV shows. It joins the likes of The Last Of Us, Horizon, Gran Turismo and more as part of a push to take the blockbuster games you love and introduce them to new audiences and formats.

Insider: PSVR2 and beyond

Beyond the trappings of staring at a screen to play games or watch series based on them there’s PSVR2 (p6) – strapping that screen onto your face. It looks incredible, and with two Resident Evil games, Horizon, and more confirmed, it’s time to get excited.

It’s a great story to kick off the Insider section, where we also deliver a show floor report from Summer Games Fest’s Play Days, the far-off games that will rock the gaming world, and take a look at Sega and Creative Assembly’s foray into the world of online shooters with the quirky Hyenas (worth a giggle).

Reviews: The Quarry

A huge magazine issue means an equally large reviews section. We’ve got 36-pages of them, including big looks at the likes of The Quarry, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, Sniper Elite 5, Salt And Sacrifice, and way more. That first one is the new game from Until Dawn's developer, and goes after the narrative horror crown. It's a better successor than The Dark Pictures Anthology, but how does it stack up to the king?

Whether you’re looking for a new game you might not have heard about (like Cotton Fantasy or Divination), or deciding what new releases to spend your hard earned money on, we’ve got you covered.

RetroStation

RetroStation kicks off with a look back at Bayonetta, PlatinumGame’s iconic stylish action game that’s still a great time, and we revisit Lost Planet, Persona 4 Arena, and F1’s rival you love to hate, Devon Butler.

Headlining the section this month is Totally Tasteless, our look at 10 of PlayStation’s oddest culinary product placements, from Death Stranding’s Monster Energy promotion to Final Fantasy 15’s Cup Noodle obsession.

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