Opinions are divided on the latest PlayStation Showcase. On one hand, many fans were pleased with the sheer number of new announcements, re-reveals, and deep-dives PlayStation Showcase delivered, with titles like Bungie's Marathon, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater remake all being clear highlights of the event. They were surrounded by smaller but still noteworthy reveals like Ghostrunner 2, The Plucky Squire, and Ultros to make for a worthwhile show. On the other hand, though, some fans were disappointed with PlayStation Showcase's lack of focus, and its lack of gameplay reveals for its upcoming first-party exclusives.
Regardless of which camp fans are in, it seems fair to say that PlayStaiton's recent showcase could have certainly been better. The first PlayStation Showcase in two years, it wasn't wrong for fans to build themselves up for wall-to-wall, high-profile announcements, especially when the pedigree of these showcases is taken into account. But while the main event might have been disappointing overall, some rumors are suggesting that PlayStation isn't done with 2023 just yet.
There's a Good Chance PlayStation Will Have Another Showcase In 2023
Going into the recent PlayStation Showcase, many fans had a solid idea of what games they could expect to see. With PlayStation trying to shift focus to its next phase of online multiplayer-focused titles, it seemed obvious that it would use the PlayStation Showcase to highlight those, and while it certainly did that, it wasn't quite as prominent as some fans were expecting, with some noticeable absences sparking some debate. The biggest felt absence of the night was The Last of Us Multiplayer, a game that was announced officially a year ago during Summer Games Fest, and one that Neil Druckmann himself said that fans would see more of this year.
With notable absences like The Last of Us Multiplayer, it didn't take long before rumors started circulating, many of which claimed that Sony was deliberately holding back. Well-known industry insider Tom Henderson was the first to start the rumor train, claiming that he knows that Sony has multiple projects ready to be revealed that, for some reason, weren't shown at the showcase. A Reddit user known as The Snitch took a similar stance, claiming that they're also aware of several high-profile projects that oddly weren't revealed, including a major AAA PC port that's allegedly set for a July release.
Though rumors should always be taken with a hefty pinch of salt, these don't seem too out of the realm of possibility for PlayStation considering the showcase's strange output. But if these rumors are true, then that points to one obvious conclusion: that PlayStation could end up hosting another showcase later in the year, revealing another handful of first-party and third-party projects that didn't make the cut this time around for whatever reason.
But while another fully-fledged PlayStation Showcase could appear later in the year, there isn't really a precedence for that yet. This doesn't necessarily mean that it won't happen, but it doesn't boost its chances of occurring either. Instead, what's much more likely is that PlayStation will simply pack these reveals into its State of Play broadcasts. For the last few years, PlayStation has been slowly increasing the number of State of Plays it produced in a year, going from around four, to five, and last year reaching six. Though these State of Plays often focus on just one game, some do act as mini showcases, packed with about 20 minutes worth of reveals and announcements. With just two State of Plays already occurring this year, it seems likely that the rest could focus on those rumored PlayStation games that haven't been announced yet.