Sony's latest PlayStation Showcase is almost upon us, with a proposed hour-long runtime, and a big focus on PS5 and PSVR 2 games. Kicking off at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9 pm GMT tomorrow, Wednesday, May 24, we're expecting to see some more of the biggest-hitters – the likes of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and maybe even Final Fantasy 16, the latter of which now stares down its June 22 launch date. We should see new projects from PlayStation-owned studios, and, if we're lucky, we might even see something totally unexpected.
The E3 2023 schedule is so close we can almost touch it, and while E3 as we once knew it is no more, we're still in-line for a host of presentations by way of Starfield Direct, the Xbox Games Showcase, and Ubisoft Forward, and other digital showcases in the way of the Future Games Show and Summer Game Fest. The PlayStation Showcase, however, is of course Sony's time to shine – here's what we think it might throw at us during its latest hour-long event.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is probably the most anticipated upcoming PS5 game at the moment, and so it's hard to imagine the superhero action-RPG not swinging by during the PlayStation Showcase. Despite being unveiled at the 2021 PlayStation Showcase – after which it planted itself among the most exciting upcoming Marvel games and new games for 2023 lists – we've not seen much of Spidey's latest adventure at all since. Rumors earlier this year pointed to a September launch date, with Sony later reiterating it's definitely still on course to land at some point in 2023. Given the fact we're also on the cusp of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's June 2 release (which features Miles Morales and Insomniac's slant on Spidey), Marvel's Spider-Man 2 gracing our screens at the PlayStation Showcase feels almost certain.
The Last of Us multiplayer
The Last of Us is never not relevant to Sony and PlayStation, but given the huge mainstream success the HBO TV show achieved earlier this year, now feels like a good time to show more of its multiplayer spin-off. Back in March, the horror series' mastermind, Neil Druckmann, said we'd hear "much more'' about the multiplayer spin-off project this year; whereas Naughty Dog itself said we'd hear more before June a few months prior – in-line with the first The Last of Us game's 10th anniversary. We've known about The Last of Us's multiplayer spin-off, always talked about by fans as a successor to the original game's Factions multiplayer mode, for years now. Druckmann finally revealed the game officially last year in Summer 2022, stating "it's as big as any of our single-player games."
Metal Gear Solid 3 remake
Rumors of a Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake have been circulating for years now, but perhaps the most reliable slice of hearsay yet infiltrated social media in March of this year. Donna Burke – who's appeared in several of Konami's games, as both a voice actor and vocalist and singer – took to Twitter to share an image of her at work. Labeled "Recording in progress!" the text itself didn't give too much away, however Burke was seen holding a plastic folder with "Snake Eater" written on the front in an accompanying photograph. Later, more photos showed the lyrics for Snake Eater's main theme on a production desk – all posts of which have since been deleted. Coincidence? Yes, possibly. But we'll speculate about an MGS 3 remake appearance at the PlayStation Showcase all the same.
The next Uncharted
Naughty Dog had barely said it was "done" with the Uncharted series, before Sony set tongues wagging with its 'Live from PS5' short that appeared to maybe feature Nathan Drake's daughter, Cassie Drake. Among live-action shots of Marvel's Spider-Man, Horizon: Forbidden West, and God of War Ragnarok, the briefest of clips showed a young woman navigating a dark cave with a flaming torch, edging towards what looked like treasure. Given the last Uncharted game, 2016's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, wrapped up with Cassie discovering her parents' discoveries before having a heart-to-heart with her father, a subsequent Cassie-shaped spin-off isn't beyond the realms of possibility.
A big sell for PSVR2 – Superhot, maybe?
If you've read our PSVR 2 review, you'll already know it's great – even if PlayStation should have made more noise about PSVR 2 demos at launch. The best PSVR2 games span a broad range of genres and tastes, but one notable absentee from that launch lineup was Superhot. Superhot Team's wonderful time-bending shooter that moved effortlessly into the virtual reality space during the original PSVR's life cycle. The aptly-named Superhot VR more than earned its place on our best VR games roundup, and with Sony having already said to expect more PSVR2 games, Superhot VR making the jump to the latest iteration of its virtual reality hardware feels like a good fit and a great shout.
Firesprite's mystery horror game
Having been bought over by PlayStation towards the end of 2021, we learned that Firesprite was working on a horror game in Unreal Engine 5 a few months later. Things have been pretty quiet since for the developer who brought us The Persistence in 2018, which is exactly why we think we could see something more at this PlayStation Showcase. Shortly after Sony's takeover a couple of years back, head of PlayStation Studios, Herman Hulst, told 12DOVE: "[Firesprite has] that drive to grow, to try new things, and now we get an opportunity to work on some really interesting games, exclusive games within PlayStation Studios, that I can't talk about today in detail, but I'm very, very excited about it." Is now the time to share? We'll soon see either way!
At least one lovely new indie game
The PlayStation Showcase is no stranger to cool-looking and thought-provoking indie games. Games like Kena: Bridge of Spirits spring to mind, and I'd love to see more of Little Devil Inside, especially given the fact it's been delayed a few times already. Sifu is another standout in my mind as a unique and gorgeous game that totally caught me off-guard, and I know I'm not alone when I say I'd love to see more from Playdead's follow-up to Inside and Limbo. These indie gems are often hard to predict, but when they stick the landing, they're often as memorable and noteworthy as their big-budget, AAA counterparts.
Bloodborne 2 or any other game from your wildest dreams
Bloodborne 2 will/could/should feature in the PlayStation Showcase because, well, why the heck not? Maybe we'll get a fully-fledged Dino Crisis remake, or maybe someone will finally realize that a Soul Reaver Remake is the perfect way to bring the series back on PS5. And while I refuse to rule any of those vague possibilities out, we might more likely see something more concrete from the sci-fi game God of War head honcho Cory Barlog is working on; something from the many Silent Hill games that are in the works; something from Slitterhead; or maybe something more on Marvel's Wolverine, you know, just to make sure we remember it exists.
Check out our E3 schedule for more on all the big presentations in the coming weeks
