Everything announced at Sony’s February State of Play 2023

Everything announced at Sony’s February State of Play 2023

At their first State of Play 2023, Sony broadcasted a 30-minute State of Play on February 23rd. The company waited until earlier in the week to announce the showcase, as they have in the past. The quarterly update promised sneak peeks at upcoming VR titles, other Sony projects, and a more in-depth look at Rocksteady's upcoming DC Games project Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. We watched the entire show and have prepared a recap. Meanwhile, both Microsoft and Nintendo have streamed events in recent weeks, showing off the likes of Splatoon 3 DLC, Minecraft Legends, Redfall, and Pikmin 4.

Sony began showing a quick look at their five upcoming PSVR titles while also offering value to their new released PSVR 2 hardware. The Foglands depicts a western landscape while players engage in roguelike gameplay with monsters and ghouls. We saw a look at Green Hell VR, a VR iteration of the popular survival horror title. Synapse, their new fast-paced shooter, was shown with gameplay that promises a lot of shooting and psychic manipulation of the surrounding environment. Journey to Foundation debuted a virtual reality world based on Isaac Asimov's famous book series, which also inspired an Apple TV+ original based on the same source material. Finally, viewers got to see the PSVR version of Skybound Games' hit Before Your Eyes, a narrative adventure that shows a character's entire life story with each blink of the player, and all of these PSVR2 titles are set to be released in 2023.

Following that, Sony released new trailers for previously announced projects. Destiny 2 players have received a new trailer for the upcoming Lightfall expansion, which will be released on February 28th. Tchia, a beautiful game inspired by the territory of New Caledonia, was released on March 21st with new gameplay. PS Plus subscribers received info on the upcoming PS Plus free games for March, as well as new games added to the streaming catalog.

The Tetris Effect team then revealed a new title called Humanity, which depicts a spirit-like dog leading hundreds upon hundreds of humans in a Lemmings-like fashion. We also saw a level creation tool, which allows players to create and share levels with others all over the world. The game will be released in May and available for PS5, PS4, PSVR, and PSVR2.

We also have a release date for Goodbye Volcano High, the coming-of-age narrative music game for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. The game will be released on June 15th. The trailer give us a glimpse of the narrative conversations between the characters as well as some rhythm sections as you play through band practice for the main characters' band.

Then Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections combines the Ultimate Ninja Storm series into a single story. We saw gameplay of Naruto and Sasuke's battle, as well as a slew of other characters from the series.

Airship Syndicate's upcoming MMO Wayfinder also received a developer diary trailer, displaying basic gameplay elements and a quick view of the world. PS4 players will have exclusive access to the beta when it launches on February 28th, and they can sign up for it now.

Then the big guns, Capcom’s Street Fighter introduce us three new playable character for Street Fighters 6 that is Zangief, Cammy and newcomer Lily. Each character received a brief gameplay showcase showcasing their distinct fighting styles. Cammy got the biggest makeover, coming into Street Fighter 6 with a new hairstyle and jacket. 

Next is Resident Evil 4 Remake, showed off new narrative cutscenes and gameplay, promising a well-polished game similar to previous iterations of the franchise. Capcom also promised a special RE4 demo would be available soon and confirms the return of Mercenaries Mode, which is the classic feature of the original game.

And then the highlight of State of Play is Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League which showed off an extended gameplay look and commentary from the dev team at Rocksteady. Suicide Squad is an action shooter set five years after the events of Batman Arkham Knight. In up to four-player cooperative play, players can control popular characters Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and King Shark. The developers discussed the traversal and combat systems, demonstrating how players will battle on the ground and in the air in fast-paced melee and shooting action. With customizable builds and gear sets for each character, Rocksteady is leaning into the RPG aspects of action games with live service elements. Though a seasonal battle pass system was announced, developers promised that it would only be for cosmetics. On May 26th, gamers will be able to get their hands on this high-speed DC game.