The State of Play Was An Exciting Look At 2025

I went into last night’s State of Play excited to see what I might be playing on my PlayStation in 2024. And on that front I was disappointed. But man, 2025 can’t come fast enough.

Don’t get me wrong, 2024 is going to be an awesome year. We’re in the actual month that the actual Final Fantasy VII Rebirth releases, and that’s the most exciting gaming thing in years. It looks like Metal Gear Solid 3: Delta will be out this year too. You can include all the Xbox stuff like Indiana Jones and potential heavy hitters like Black Myth Wukong too.

The State of Play gave us quick looks at Helldivers (not for me) and Rise of the Ronin (amazing for its world, sceptical on the combat), but gave very little respite for the rest of the year. Silent Hill fans were well catered for though, and after the last decade, they deserve to be pampered.

What they did show was some of the awesome things we’ll be playing next year. It’s sad to be sitting in February of 2024 and, already, next year looks so much stronger. “Next Gen” finally seems like it might be upon us – and it’ll only be four and a half years since the latest consoles launched.

I’m being a bit facetious. I’ve written before about how console generations don’t really make sense in the modern age, and instead we should look at gaming generations. The PS4 started with Knack and finished with The Last of Us Part 2. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was part of the current generation, while Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will, hopefully, offer us a glimpse of the next. Death Stranding 2 is well and truly next generation.

The State of Play in 2025

The character models were fantastic. The story was off-the-wall (which is exactly where Kojima belongs). The landscapes were incredible. Death Stranding 2 will likely be the most obvious GOTY contender for me, despite it’s odious On The Beach subtitle. That’s high praise in a year when we’ll see Grand Theft Auto 6.

I was also excited to see Judas. As someone who loves the Bioshock games and accepts that there’s very little that scratches the itch they created, Judas is massively on my radar. It didn’t look like a massive jump over what came before – “Yup, that’s Bioshock,” said everybody who has ever seen a Bioshock game. But it is undoubtedly worth watching.

So then, what first party treats has Sony got to keep us busy in 2024? No doubt they’ve held some things back to announce during the summer. They’re keeping their cards close to their chest these days. And yet the biggest push we have is Helldivers 2. Oh, and that totally worth it Last of Us 2 remaster. Beyond those two releases and the third-party support in Final Fantasy VII and Rise of the Ronin, there’s very little rumble about what blockbusters might come next.

I have a backlog a million miles long, so the specifics don’t worry me. I guess my biggest thought is that if Sony wanted to give me a reason to dust off my PlayStation in what could be nearly two years from now, they definitely have my attention.