Cliff Notes – PS5 State of Play confirmed for this week with first look at Returnal sequel
- Sony has confirmed a State of Play showcase scheduled for September 24, focusing on upcoming PS5 games, including the highly anticipated exclusive, Saros, a spiritual sequel to Returnal.
- The showcase will last approximately 35 minutes, featuring updates on third-party and indie titles, with expectations for trailers of Ghost Of Yōtei and possibly Insomniac’s Wolverine game.
- The event may highlight Japanese-made games, coinciding with the Tokyo Game Show, and will include optional Japanese subtitles for viewers.
PS5 State of Play confirmed for this week with first look at Returnal sequel
We’re already pleased with what the State of Play is offering (Sony)
Sony’s finally admitted it has a September PS5 showcase happening soon and its main attraction is its next big exclusive for 2026.
As was rumoured, Sony has one of its State of Play showcases scheduled to air this week, with updates promised for upcoming PlayStation 5 games.
Anyone expecting this one to be the mega blowout showcase that Sony has sorely lacked this year is probably setting themselves up for disappointment as it’s only set to run for roughly 35 minutes, making it just over half the length of the last Nintendo Direct.
On the plus side, our most anticipated PlayStation 5 exclusive of next year, Saros, is going to make an appearance during proceedings, after having missed out on the June State of Play.
Saros was announced back in February and is described as the spiritual sequel to Returnal, by Housemarque Studios. Little was confirmed at the time, outside of it being a traditional single-player game and starring Rahul Kohli (Owen from The Haunting of Bly Manor) in the lead role.
Saros is currently the only first party exclusive Sony has scheduled for 2026 (Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is by third party studio Arc System Works) and with Ghost Of Yōtei launching next week, it makes sense for the company to start drumming up hype for what comes afterwards.
As far as we’re concerned, Returnal remains the PlayStation 5’s best game, so we’re very excited to see how Housemarque will evolve its formula for the sequel. It won’t take up too much of the showcase, though, as Sony is only promising roughly five minutes of gameplay.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Ghost Of Yōtei will likely show up somewhere (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The remaining 30 minutes will feature ‘anticipated third party and indie titles, plus updates from some of our teams at PlayStation Studios,’ so it’s entirely possible Sony will show off at least one other first party game.
We suspect there’ll be one last trailer for Ghost Of Yōtei, but it’s also been claimed that Insomniac’s long absent Wolverine game could resurface, as it’s allegedly aiming for a 2026 launch.
Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is due a new trailer as well. It’s been nearly a year since its announcement at The Game Awards 2024 and considering director Neil Druckmann has stepped back from the Last Of Us TV show to put all his focus on the game, it must be reaching a point where the team has something to show.
There may be a particular focus on Japanese made games, considering Tokyo Game Show starts on Thursday and Sony’s announcement makes a point to mention that the showcase will air with optional Japanese subtitles.
Sony only has two Japanese studios now – Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital and Astro Bot developer Team Asobi – but it’s probably too soon for either of them to have a new game ready for the showcase.
When is the new State of Play showcase?
The State of Play airs tomorrow on Wednesday, September 24 at 10pm BST. So, we in the UK will have to stay up a little late to see everything it has to offer.
That is usually an indication that it’s more important than usual though, especially as it may well be the last State of Play of the year.
What are you hoping to see at the State of Play? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
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