It's No Big Deal That Ghost Of Yotei And Death Stranding Weren't At State Of Play

Before the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:PlayStation State of Play, I mused whether just two big games would be enough for So♉ny this year. It has long traded on the idea that the PS is the exclusives machine, and with just 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ghost of Yotei and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Death Stranding 2, I wo♍ndered whether it needed a third. Now, I’m not sure either will hold.

Both games were a no show at the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:State of Play. The showcase itself was pretty good, I thought, but was heavily populated by games aiming for 2026 and beyond. While some games present will emerge this year, the two games that will define whether 2025 is considered a success for PlayStation were notably absent. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Astro Bot, which could have made for a de facto third big hitter wit𓃲h🧜 substantial DLC, also skipped the party.

And then released five levels in a Tweet, further 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:provi🥃ng that it really is 🅷a Nintendo game.

There Is Good Reason For PlayStation To Let Other Games Take The Spotlight

Ther🥂e’s a wider context on this, in both directions. First, let’s examine the de♏fence. It’s currently February - at this point last year, we didn’t even know Astro Bot existed. Both Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 may well launch this year to high praise and higher sales, and another first-party triple-A could still join them.

In the show’s aftermath, discussion has turned to Sar🔯os, to Tides of Annihilation, to Shinobi… would this have happened had we seen ten minutes of Atsu running around Yotei? It may well have been a tactical decision to give a platform to those who need it mostღ, while keeping the games that don’t need a State of Play to shine in their back pocket.

There’s also the small matter of GTA. If either of Sony’s games announced a launch date at the State of Play, they’d 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:leave themselves ꦯopen to being gazumped by Rockstar. Had they been there and not announced a date, that would have both taken att⛦ention away fr꧃om other games and looked even more obvious that they were running scared from GTA.

In a vacuum (or 🍸at least, in a vacuum that also contains Grand Theft Auto), both games skipping is sensi🥃ble. And, when the dust settles on 2025, it will not matter at all if both games do indeed launch this year to critical acclaim. But in the current context of momentum in the console space, it feels like Sony has ceded ground.

But It Still Looks Bad

Sony was the third of the big three to open its account for 2025. Nintendo was always going to take the crown, at least in terms of anticipation. The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Switch 2 has been a long time coming, and while we’ve only 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:had a minor tease for the console with a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:singular, unnamed Mario Kart, that’s enough. Add in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Legends: Z-A and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Metroid Prime 4, the heavily speculated return of 3D Mario, and other potential launch window games from any of Zelda, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fire Emblem, Kirby, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and/or another Pokemon, and the Switch 2 may have an unassailable lead.

Real ones are still 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:holding out hope for Kid Icarus.

But what about Xbox, PlayStation’s favourite head to dunk in the toilet? So long playing catch up, it has once again set itself up for a big year. While Avowed has opened to strong reviews (168澳洲幸运5开奖网:my own not withstanding), previews for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:South of Midnight were very positive, while Fable and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gears of War: E-Day are both 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:potential longshots for 2025.

The real ace up the Green Team’s sleeve though is Game Pass. The killer app has wobbled throughout this generation - shutting down Tango Gameworks after it made the perfect Game Pass game in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Hi-Fi Rush seemed 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:like a sign of losing faith - but this year we’ll have 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Doom: The Dark Ages, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ninja Gaiden 4, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ‘free’ on Game Pass while 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:charging full price on PlayStation, and there could be more to follow.

Xbox has issues of its own - the Series S remains an albatross for ‘new gen’ gameplay - and Sony has earned a substantial lead in recent years. But Sony keeps that lead by hitting its mark with exclusives. The State of Play was a chance to prove it was ready to do that, and it was a chance Sony missed.🐎

Again, none of this matters if the games do launch this year and turn out good. Much like bickering over whether the Switch 2 advert for an advert should have shown more, it’s meaningless in the long🐼 run. Xbox is still some way behind PlayStation in the overall race. But in the opening months of 2025, it has made up some ground. It will be interesting to see where things stand when the year comes to a close.