During a State of Play livestream, Sony revealed a lot of games, and one particular PS4 model. No one really understood what this “Days of Play” is, or what it entails. We got a little teaser of a Days of Play via a small trailer about Days of Play Limited Edition PS4 console, but that’s just about it. The limited edition Days of Play PS4 console comes with metallic emboss with some colors. It comes with the usual packaging, such as 1TB HDD, a matching controller DualShock 4 controller, and the usual HDMI/AC power plug for your PS4.
Today, Sony released a new trailer about Days of Play, but this time, it unloaded more information: Days of Play begins June 7, and ends June 17. This event allows PS4 owners to get PSVR bundles starting at $249.99, some PS4 games (God of War, Days Gone, and Spiderman are some examples) are now $19.99, some PlayStation Hits games are $9.99, and PS4 controllers are now $39.99.
As of late, Sony has been ramping up some announcements regarding their Next Generation PlayStation plans. Sony has no plans on attending E3 2019 or hosting a press conference during E3 2019. Recently, Sony had a few announcements regarding Next Generation PlayStation.
The first one is a “strategic partnership” with Microsoft. Nobody really knows what this partnership entails, but Microsoft is already working on their own solution, called Project xCloud. Sony already has a streaming service, PlayStation Now. According to the announcement by Microsoft, both companies are slated to develop streaming services in Azure, and host Sony’s game content entirely in the Azure cloud. They’ve worked together for many years, but it’s been speculated that this partnership intensified over the last year now.
Furthermore, during Sony’s Corporate Meeting today, Sony referenced the partnership in a slide. Sony said “We will leverage existing and new partnerships to achieve growth and scale faster than ever before.” They continued by saying “This follows the model successfully followed in growing our PSN business.”
PlayStation Network encompasses not just the network itself, it encompasses the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Now, and more. Meaning, whatever business model they were doing before, they will apply to the new PlayStation Network in Azure to maintain sustainability.
This announcement sent shockwaves throughout the game industry. Everyone has their own opinion about the idea. However, if they’ve been working together for many years, this is just “business as usual.” Some have speculated that this is a war on the new trend in the technology world – Google unveiled Stadia during GDC 2019 in March. Apple unveiled their own game streaming service, and Amazon is speculated to announce their own game streaming service.
That’s not all, the PlayStation team was equally as shocked as everyone else. The management had to calm down workers saying that none of this affects current PlayStation plans internally. Sony purchased Gaikai, which has been building out the PlayStation Now service since 2012, Sony also acquired some of the OnLive IP.
The second one is about the hard drive. Sony already announced that the Hard Drive will make “load times a thing of the past.” During the Corporate Meeting at Sony today, Sony reiterated that PlayStation 5 has a new CPU, GPU, will support Ray Tracing, 8k, will have backward compatibility, and Disc Support.
The big subject of the meeting, though was the SSD (Solid State Drive). Sony already said they’re making a custom Hard Drive to speed up load times, and the rendering of games, which means fetching assets from the games you install or download. They invited Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki to show off the lighting fast loading time in real time…
Sony's official video comparing performance of PS4 Pro vs next-gen PlayStation pic.twitter.com/2eUROxKFLq
In the video embedded above, Sony showed off PS5’s load time(s) by comparing PS5 load times side by side with the recently released PS4 Pro.
Sony says that PlayStation 4 is part of their next generation plans. Sony said that so far, they’ve sold over 96.8 Million PS4 consoles worldwide. Furthermore, PlayStation Network has 94 Million subscribers (keep in mind this is across PS3, PSVita, PS4, and PS4 Pro).
Sony projects that PlayStation 4 will hit 100 Million units by the end of 2019. I think it’s safe to say they’ll meet that projection earlier. In two slides, Sony talks about PlayStation 4’s role in Sony’s Next Generation plans.
Sony plans to leverage the adoption of PS4 to transfer easily to PS5 with a combination of exclusive PS4 titles still to come, backward compatibility, and gaming experiences. This is not the first time Sony has tried to transition from generation to generation, they’ve tried it with PS3, by offering backward compatibility straight out of the box. But from what these slides are alluding to, is that they’ve successfully done so.
This afternoon, Sony hosted a 10 Minute State of Play Livestream announcing new games, a new PlayStation 4 console, and an update on Final Fantasy VII (7) Remake. You can see the livestream below…
(If Sony deletes that one, and replaces it with a new one, I’ll update this post.)
Among the announcements in this State of Play are:
Monster Hunter World Iceborn
Riverbond
Predator: Hunting Grounds
MediEvil Gameplay
Away: The Survival Series
Days of Play PS4 Console
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Monster Hunter World Iceborn is a new DLC coming for Monster Hunter World. It has a release date of September 6, 2019. Riverbound is a game coming this Summer that has that Diablo dungeon crawling kind of gameplay. It boasts couch co-op or multiplayer gaming. Predator: Hunting Grounds is a multiplayer game coming in 2020. Sony and Fox are working closely together for this game. Sony took the opportunity in this State of Play livestream to show off MediEvil gameplay. MediEvil is to be released October 25, 2019. Away: The Survival Series is an open world action-adventure game that puts you in the role of a raccoon. It’s about one word and one word only: Survival. No other information is given about this game. Not even a release date.
Sony then announced a Limited Edition console called the “Days of Play” console. It comes with a 1TB Hard Drive, and a matching DualShock 4 controller. The final trailer of the day was none other than Final Fantasy VII Remake.
They said more information coming in June. Possibly at E32019. That was everything from today’s State of Play Livestream…
This morning, Sony’s PlayStation division announced the release date of their next “State of Play” live event. For those of you who don’t know, State of Play is Sony’s monthly live event similar to Nintendo’s Direct Livestreams where they announce release dates, updates to games, and World Premieres of new games. This is their first State of Play event, for those of you wondering…
So, as you can see, it’s like a trailer, but with multiple choreographed announcements. Sony stressed that you should not expect next generation announcements or plans in the video. (Recently, Sony announced that their next generation console has been in the works for a few years now. Microsoft teased their next console during E32018.)
In a post by Sony, the date for the second State of Play is dated for Thursday, May 9 at 3:00pm Pacific Time. What we know so far is that Sony plans to show off MediEvil for the first time, teased a first look at an undisclosed new game, and other announcements surrounding upcoming PS4 releases…
After Mark Cerny talked up some of the features of the new, upcoming Next Generation PlayStation console, Sony has been silent regarding the new game console. However, in an earnings report intended for investors, Sony said that they’ve experienced an “increase in development expenses for the next generation console.”
According to a journalist working for Kotaku, some developers got or are getting dev kits, so Sony wanted to get ahead of the leaks…
As I said on today's Kotaku Splitscreen – if you're wondering why Sony randomly dropped PS5 news last week, one reason is that (I hear) a bunch of third-party studios got/are getting dev kits this month. Sony knew info would start leaking now. So they beat everyone to it
That’s not all, in a follow-up with the press, Sony said that the PlayStation 5 is still more than a year away from launching. This is not at all surprising for me, because usually, Sony designs their consoles to have a 10 year lifecycle, starting with PS2. We are on the 6th year, and even though that sales have slowed somewhat, there’s still some life left on the current PS4. Furthermore, during an investor call in March 2018, Sony said that the PlayStation 4 is entering its “final phase of its life cycle.” There is however, speculation that the console would either launch in 2020, or 2021.
As I mentioned, sales of PlayStation 4 have slowed down quite a bit. According to Sony, the PS4 sold 17.8 Million consoles for the financial 2018 year, of that is 2.9 Million is between January and March 2019. That is 1.2 Million down from the previous financial year. However, the good news is that not only did Sony meet their projections, they exceeded it by .03 Million. This is possibly because of the software output they’ve done over the financial year 2018. This is being reflected in their games division making the best profit in PlayStation history.
While the PlayStation console sales have been dipping for years, other parts of PlayStation made up for the losses. According to Sony, there are 36.4 Million PlayStation Plus subscribers across PS3, PSVita, and PS4. The overall PlayStation Network ecosystem is doing well, too. According to Sony, digital sales across DLC’s, full-game downloads, PlayStation Plus, and the PlayStation Now streaming service accounts for $12.8 Billion for the financial year. The “Game and Network Services” accounted for $20.9 Billion. To date, Sony sold 96.8 million PS4 consoles worldwide, and 87.4 Million PS3 consoles worldwide. [These numbers are from SIE’s business/financial data website. Images below are attached in case the company changes the page.]
Stay tuned for more information about the Next Generation PlayStation console, presumably named PlayStation 5.
Many speculated that it was hard to top last year’s E3. Let’s recap for a few seconds here: Yu Suzuki went on stage at the Sony E32015 conference and announced Shenmue 3. For those of you who do not know Yu Suzuki, he’s a producer and the guy behind some of the biggest names in SEGA’s storied history in gaming: After Burner, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, and he was the one that developed Dreamcast console/Naomi arcade board. Shenmue is a creation of Yu, which is an Open World beat ’em up. Sony unveiled a few minutes of The Last Guardian gameplay which has been in development since 2007.
They did it again this year during E32016…
The game is now a PS3 & PS4 title with a new release date: October 25, 2016.
And finally, one of the biggest bombshells of E3 2015 was none other than Final Fantasy 7.
No one thought it was possible to top this. No. That was enough to get people talking, talking, and talking.
This year, Sony topped last year’s event with more than one surprise. The first one is the fourth major iteration in the God of War franchise…
The second one is a new title in the Spiderman franchise. It’s exclusive to PlayStation 4, and is being developed by Insomniac Games, with collaboration from Marvel to keep the game authentic. Marvel is going all out with this collaboration to create an epic Spiderman game for PS4…
And finally, out of the left field, Hideo Kojima came on-stage to unveil his new title. For those of you who don’t know Hideo Kojima, he is the creator of the blockbuster series – Metal Gear Solid. He was outed by Konami last year, and formed an exclusive partnership with Sony. Kojima’s new title is Death Stranding…
Those of you fans of The Walking Dead will notice that’s… Norman Reedus. Sony also revealed gameplay footage of Guerrilla Games’ new game, Horizon: Zero Dawn…
And finally, those of you Zombies fans will love Days Gone. If there was a game of Sons of Anarchy mixed with The Walking Dead, look no further…
Sony also announced remasters of Crash Bandicoot for PS4: Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and Crash Bandicoot: Warped – all will be published by Activision.
The last piece of announcement that was surprising: PlayStation VR arrives October 15, 2016!
Xbox have announced at this year’s E3 conference in LA the most powerful console ever, coming Holiday season 2017.
Alongside this Microsoft also announced the new version of the Xbox One, the Xbox One S. Xbox One S comes in three different models: 500GB for $299, 1TB for $349, 2TB for $399.
Sony has also confirmed recent rumours of an upgraded PlayStation 4. PlayStation 4 Neo will have 4K support and coming soon.
Get your first look at in-depth Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare gameplay as Reyes and his crew infiltrate and take down an enemy SetDef destroyer. Launching from the UNSA Retribution, the SCAR team must engage in intense Jackal dogfighting and close-quarters combat through zero-g to accomplish a coordinated assault with the UNSA Tigris. Welcome to the deadly world of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Activision have confirmed that DLC will be available first for PS4 users.
More details about multiplayer and the new zombies experience will be announced at a later date. For now, we’re excited to say that PS4 owners will get DLC Map Packs 30 days early. So plan your upcoming holiday season weekends carefully.
The second DLC pack for Black Ops 3, Eclipse, is now available to pre-load in North America and in Europe.
Due for release on the 19th April.
DLC pack is around 7.2GB.
Eclipse has four multiplayer maps called Spire, Rift, Knockout and Verge (remake of World at War’s Banzai map).
Multiplayer maps
Spire: Spire takes Multiplayer combat to a futuristic sub-orbital airport terminal set high in the clouds. Multiple levels and open areas promote intense, mid-range combat around a clean, high-tech civilian environment. Watch your step, because one wrong move could send you plummeting back through the stratosphere.
Rift: Head to the core of a harsh futuristic military complex, set high above an active caldera. Rift funnels and forces tight, intense engagements, where the only way through is forward. Utilize the unique core movement opportunities to outsmart and outplay enemies as you traverse the suspended rail system.
Knockout: Housed in a traditional Shaolin Temple with a retro twist, Knockout sets the stage for a bloody Kung Fu tournament. This mid-sized map showcases a sharp contrast between the mid-range engagements of the traditional exterior architecture and the tight close-quarters of an eclectic 1970’s styled interior.
Verge: In this re-imagination of the classic Call of Duty: World at War map, Banzai, Verge drops Multiplayer combat into the center of a distant post-apocalyptic future, where two warring factions are entrenched in constant battle. Take control of the key bridge, fortresses, tunnel systems and waterfalls as you engage in high-speed action through this medium-sized map.
Zombies
Zetsubou – No Shima – Eclipse also sets the stage for Zetsubou No Shima, the highly-anticipated, all-new entry in the Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies storyline that spans the four DLC Map Packs for Black Ops III this year. The Origins characters continue on their mission to stop the zombie apocalypse not only in this universe but in all universes. Our heroes find themselves stranded on a remote Pacific island which is home to the Division 9 facility: a secret biological research lab whose experiments with Element 115 and its effects on human, animal, and plant biology has created horrors beyond belief. Zetsubou No Shima features a foliage rich island map including new terrifying zombie enemies, a variety of innovative transport mechanics, more devastating traps and classic Zombies side quests.
The Eclipse DLC pack for Black Ops 3 will retail at $15 if bought separately to the season pass.
Release date for PS4 users 19th April with Xbox One to follow roughly a month later.
