Sony is planning a second PlayStation Showcase for 2023, according to a known industry insider. This claim surfaced online following mixed reactions to the company's last PlayStation Showcase which left a lot of unanswered questions.
Unlike State of Play streams, PlayStation Showcase broadcasts are a fairly rare occurrence usually reserved for Sony's biggest, most content-dense events. The last such stream prior to this month happened nearly two years ago, so the level of anticipation surrounding the May 24 showing was even higher than usual. Yet the event ended up being criticized by some of the fans for a multitude of reasons, including the revelation that many PlayStation Showcase games are coming to Xbox.
Known leaker Colin Moriarty subsequently said that this wasn't the last big showing that Sony had in store for 2023. During a May 28 episode of the Iron Lords Podcast, Moriarty said a second PlayStation Showcase is planned for later this year, citing industry sources. The insider added it was "fairly obvious" that Sony's looking to do another major event in 2023, speculating that its next big broadcast will be focused on detailing some of the recently unveiled PlayStation games instead of announcing new ones. His claims dovetail with multiple recent reports suggesting Sony was holding back with its last PlayStation Showcase.
Moriarty's track record with leaks isn't impeccable, but the insider has numerous major scoops under his belt, including the fact that he was the first to report the title of Assassin's Creed Mirage in summer 2022. And though his claim of another PlayStation Showcase being on the horizon definitely holds some weight, Sony's ideal window to hold another 2023 event seems pretty narrow; the likeliest time for such a broadcast would be late summer or early fall.
Like most publishers, Sony historically avoided big Q4 showings in favor of marketing its existing games ahead of any given holiday season, traditionally the most successful period of the year for the industry, sales-wise. The last time that the company broke with that tradition was in 2019, when it held a 20-minute State of Play stream offering a glimpse at the then-upcoming Ghost of Tsushima and confirming the Resident Evil 3 remake's release date, among other things. There was also a State of Play stream in November 2020, but that broadcast was a bit of an anomaly, as it was exclusively focused on the Demon's Souls remake which released within days of the event.
Since most games featured at the last PlayStation Showcase were missing availability information, they are extremely unlikely to launch this year. It's thus equally implausible that Sony will have much to show in the way of impending releases come Q4 2023, leaving the third quarter of the year as the likeliest window for another PlayStation Showcase focused on projects like the Silent Hill 2 remake, Naughty Dog's next big game, and the titles teased during the May 24 stream.