The PlayStation Showcase event, which, since 2020, has been PlayStation’s grandest event in their calendar, a substitute for their old E3 presentations has seemingly been locked into a date for 2022. Though the details are not yet official, the rumblings have begun about a September 8, 2022 showing thanks to insider Nick Baker spreading the word from a source he has, who then had three different, supposedly in the know, sources share that same date with them. There’s certainly a risk of the message being mixed up in this daisy-chain delivery message, but at the same time, Nick has historically had a good history of having a solid inside word into the various goings on of many of the big hitters in the industry.
The PlayStation Showcase event has been held in the early-Fall window for the last couple of years, with 2021’s edition, which played host to announcements such as Marvel’s Wolverine, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the first look at God of War: Ragnarok in action, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, Gran Turismo 7‘s date, Uncharted: The Legacy Of Thieves Collection and more all being revealed at the event on September 9, 2021. Meanwhile, the September 17, 2020, PS5 Showcase event had other huge reveals, including that of the PS5 consoles themselves, both physical, and digital-only, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Horizon Forbidden West, the Demon’s Souls remake, and several huge independent and Third Party reveals, like Kena: Bridge Of Spirits, GTA V, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Bugsnax.
There is certainly a lot of intrigue around the fate of PlayStation’s first-party studios output, with current big-hitters The Last Of Us Part 1, a remake of the 2013 original PS3 classic, being in the hands of reviewers now ahead of its September 2, 2022 release date, and God of War: Ragnarok is slated for release on November 9, 2022. Beyond that duo, and both Insomniac Games developed titles Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023), and Marvel’s Wolverine (2024), we actually know very little of what most of PlayStation’s first-party studios are doing. Ghost Of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch has been hiring for its next work, presumably a direct sequel to the 2020 fan favourite, Naughty Dog is still working on their The Last Of Us standalone multiplayer project, while other studios like Days Gone developer Bend Studio, and even smaller teams like Concrete Genie developer Pixelopus, are shrouded in mystery. Then there’s Gran Turismo 7 developer Polyphony Digital, and Horizon Forbidden West developer Guerilla Games who are both fresh from new launches and likely won’t have much to say outside of any further DLC plans.
With this September event currently unconfirmed, but seeming inevitable, this could be the grand premiere of many new titles from the first-party studios as well as an opportunity to update players on the goings on from their various third-party and independent partners. We’ll know soon enough though since September 8 is only two weeks away.