When we heard the PlayStation Showcase was only set to deliver 40 minutes of trailers for the latest games coming to PS5 – none of which would feature PSVR 2 footage – we were a bit skeptical about how much quality content we’d see from Sony.
As it turns out, however, 40 minutes was more than enough time to absolutely floor us with a veritable cornucopia of awesome announcements, from the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake to a teaser trailer for Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games.
By our count, there were 18 phenomenal trailers that made their debut at the showcase, each of which we’ve embedded below to save a few minutes of your time.
- PlayStation Showcase: all the PS5 game announcements as they happened
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake
Sony started out strong with a trailer for KOTOR… er, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake for all you non-nerf herders out there. The trailer, which sees the slow unveiling of Darth Revan with narration from Bastilla Shan, is absolutely stunning – though unlikely to be used in the final game. Still, high polygon-count models are beautiful to look at and the fact that we’ve been waiting almost 20 years for this makes it all that much sweeter.
God of War: Ragnarok
Kratos’ epic adventures of fatherhood will continue in God of War: Ragnarok, a trailer of which made its debut during the Showcase event. While Kratos is partially there doing dad things (d’aw!) he’s also seen wielding the Blades of Chaos from his days as a Greek Pantheon-killing machine, the results of which are just as bloody as you’d expect. Definitely put the little ones to bed before embarking on Santa Monica Studios’ next Nordic adventure.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Set to the wonderful sounds of Babymetal’s “Gimme Chocolate!!”, the latest trailer for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands features explosions, guns… and a river of orange soda. Sounds about right for a Borderlands spin-off. Like previous entries in the series, this one’s all about looting and shooting, but Wonderlands adds elements of magic and fantasy to mix up the carnage. While most games would never be brave enough to mix dragons, unicorns and rocket launchers, developer Gearbox Software certainly is, and the results are both dazzling and absolutely outrageous simultaneously. Sign us up.
Project Eve
This is the first we’re hearing about Project Eve, a game from studio Shift Up that looks to be a hack-and-slash adventure set in the near post-apocalyptic future. With a sword-wielding female protagonist taking on huge monsters with slo-mo action and cinematic quick-time events, the game feels anime as heck. Project Eve doesn’t have a release date.
Forspoken
We finally got a nice long look at Forspoken, a new action RPG from Square Enix that was previously known as Project Athia. In the three-minute long clip we get a better introduction to protagonist Frey Holland who’s an ordinary New Yorker who suddenly finds herself trapped in the mystical land of Athia. Packed with amazing magical abilities and a cynical companion we already know we’ll love to hate – the sentient bracelet Cuff – we can’t wait for Forspoken to release in Spring 2022.
Rainbow Six Extraction
We got a new trailer for Rainbow Six Extraction – the follow up to the hugely popular multiplayer game Rainbow Six: Siege. The new footage gave us a look at familiar abilities making a return from Siege, including a Tachanka-like shielded turret and the drones players could use to safely scout ahead before planning an attack. The release date is January 2022.
Alan Wake Remastered
An indie darling from the Xbox 360 era made by studio Remedy long before its hit Control, Alan Wake has the eponymous hero taking on darkness both metaphorically and literally in a first-person shooter / thriller. This is the first time Alan Wake will be on PlayStation as the game’s developer, Remedy Entertainment, has long been partners with Microsoft throughout the Aughts. Its appearance on PlayStation could spell bigger things to come for Remedy and Sony, but even if nothing materializes for a while, having Alan Wake on PS5 should be more than enough to give gamers goosebumps.
Alan Wake Remastered is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X on October 5, 2021.
GTA 5 and GTA Online
We knew GTA 5 was coming to the latest-gen consoles including the PS5, but were previously thinking it would arrive on November 5 – but the new release date of March 2022 stated in the trailer above effectively confirms that it’s been delayed til next year. The game has been enhanced for PS5, though it’s hard to tell by the trailer above.
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Ghostwire: Tokyo, the supernatural adventure game introduced at E3 2019, got another trailer hinting at the game’s story and powers. It’s up to you to beat back spectral foes as you take down a dangerous occultist when Ghostwire: Tokyo launches in Spring 2022 (Q2 2022).
Guardians of the Galaxy
The standalone Guardians of the Galaxy game got another trailer that showed a crisper version of the game that, well, we’re getting excited for. There’s a lot more going on in this trailer with the Nova Corps (and possibly the hero Nova themself), a new villain, and quippier quips than we’ve seen before. The game comes out on October 26, 2021.
Bloodhunt (Vampire: The Masquerade)
The upcoming Bloodhunt (previously styled Blood Hunt) is a free-to-play battle royale game set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, and this trailer showed off some gameplay of the vampiric carnage you’ll be capable of – as well as some anti-vampire abilities from militaristic soldiers from a group known as the Entity. Bloodhunt is coming to PS5 in 2021.
Deathloop
We’ve heard a lot about Deathloop and even previewed it with hands-on time, so the latest trailer won’t shock you with new content. Instead, it’s a good summary of what the game’s about (time loops, trapped on an island) but showcases some more subtle environmental and power interactions, like shooting a vending machine so foes will trip on what spills out, slamming baddies on bounce pads, and so on. Deathloop comes out on September 14, 2021.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves
A new collection is coming that bundles remastered versions of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and its spin-off game, Uncharted: Lost Legacy. While the trailer and PlayStation Blog post were light on details, we’d expect graphical touch-ups and smoother gameplay on modern platforms. The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection is coming out in early 2022 for PS5 and, soon after, PC.
Kid A Mnesia virtual exhibit
Any Radiohead fans out there? The band is gearing up to release a virtual exhibition around the 21st anniversaries of its best-selling albums, Kid A and Amnesiac, and the teaser images in the trailer above suggest some big, weird Control vibes. Check out the Kid A Mnesia exhibit in November 2021 on PS5 and through the Epic Games Store on PC and Mac.
Tchia
This is the first we’re seeing of Tchia, a tropical open world game with a cartoony style that mixes Zelda: Breath of the Wild roaming (and gliding!) with a ‘Soul Jumping’ animal and object possession mechanic to travel and solve puzzles. We don’t know much about the game, but it looks polished with a soundtrack worthy of Disney animation – an adventure based on the real-world islands of New Caledonia. Tchia is coming in 2022 to PS4 and PS5.
Marvel’s Wolverine
After finding massive success with its Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise, Insomniac Games has announced that it will be making a Marvel Wolverine game on PS5. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, Marvel’s Wolverine is a standalone game that's being directed by Brian Horton and Cameron Christian, who recently led the team on Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. That bodes pretty well for the game as Miles Morales was well-received, but there's definitely a big difference between Marvel's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and Weapon X.
While we can't speak to what the game may look like, we'll give Insomniac the benefit of the doubt on this and get preemptively hyped about the game. There's no guarantee that Wolverine will win as many accolades as its web-slinging predecessor, but we're hoping that's the case – and we'll certainly be keeping our eyes out and claws up for any more morsels of information as they drop.
Gran Turismo 7
The Gran Turismo franchise has long been synonymous with cutting-edge PlayStation consoles – so it seemed a bit strange that the PS5 didn’t launch with one. Sony and developer Digital Polyphony are looking to make up for lost time with the latest trailer for Gran Turismo 7 that should be available on March 4, 2022. That’s still a few months out and Xbox gamers will be playing Forza Horizon 5 in that time but, based on what we saw in the trailer, the ultra-realistic cars and beautiful ambient lighting around some of the world’s most famous race tracks seem like they’ll be worth the wait.
The Gran Turismo 7 release date is March 4, 2022.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 follows on from Insomniac’s very popular PS4 hit, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and the follow-up Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The trailer shows both heroes suited up and punching bad guys together, but in the shadows behind them lurks a well-known villain from the comics (and theaters): Venom.
Did we say villain? Because the PlayStation Blog distinctly pluralizes ‘villains’ hunting both down – and our Spidey Senses hint that whoever is giving the voice-over in the trailer seeking a rival who could ‘surprise’ and ‘even beat me’ can only be Kraven the Hunter, no? Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 comes out in 2023.
- PlayStation Showcase: all the PS5 game announcements as they happened
