Grumblevolcano

@AdamNovice I sadly think they'll use Intergalactic as Sony's first digital only major 1st party release to make people cave in and buy anyway. Kind of like what happened with Pokopia being the first Nintendo 1st party Switch 2 Key Card.

Naughty Dog games lean towards 1st half of the year nowadays (TLoU in June 2013, Uncharted 4 in May 2016, TLoU 2 in June 2020) so if GoW Laufey is 1st half of 2027, I think Intergalactic will be 1st half of 2028.

In hindsight, Sony's been teasing this future since February. The comments about "monetising the installed base", the dynamic pricing, the DRM change and the cancellation of PC ports were all big signs.

@NerdyPaul Retailers would eat the cost difference like they did with Switch 2's price difference between physical and digital. You can easily preorder the physical version of upcoming 1st party Nintendo games that have release dates (Splatoon Raiders, Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave, Switch Sports Resort) for their digital price.

I think both PS6 and Helix will only be purchasable via the platform's own stores with both being very niche. PS6 being Playstation Direct exclusive and Helix being Microsoft Store exclusive much like how Valve's more recent hardware can only be bought via Steam. I don't see retailers supporting a new generation that's fully digital only, they'll use that space for Switch 2 instead as Nintendo still cares about physical media.

It's very promising that so many people are speaking out against this horrible decision by Sony to kill off physical media, hopefully something will come of it.

The big Switch 2 Key Card backlash did actually increase the number of true physical Switch 2 releases from 3rd parties this year. Even Bethesda chose to release 2 fully on the cart games (Indiana Jones and Oblivion Remastered) which were Key Discs on PS5.

My concerns about the future of physical on PS soared when there were heavy rumours of a PS6 handheld considering you can't fit PS4/PS5 discs into a handheld. The choices were:
1. Handheld digital only while the home console remains disc based (downside is that you can't play disc games on the handheld so library is split)
2. You use carts for next gen games (downside is it doesn't solve the problem of backwards compatibility)
3. Everything is digital only (downside is the death of physical media and you don't own anything)

Nintendo chose option 2 with Switch of which their backwards compatibility solution was that there wasn't any (library started from scratch).

Turns out Sony chose option 3 which is the worst option.

@RoomWithaMoose I'd guess Sony's top 7 is probably:
1. Gran Turismo
2. Insomniac Marvel Universe
3. God of War
4. The Last of Us
5. Horizon
6. Ghost
7. Uncharted (would be higher but it's been dormant for nearly a decade)

I wonder how long the inevitable PSN outage will be because Rockstar refused to make physical copies.

@twitchtvpat No but I think it's more about Sony's change in communication strategy. Sony did a very good job in showcasing PS4 was alive and well in the lead up to PS5. Meanwhile while there are plenty of games incoming for PS5 in the lead up to PS6, it feels like Sony's relying heavily on GTA6 and so Rockstar's silence becomes Sony's silence.

@Bizzy There likely will be another Switch 2 price increase but I doubt it'll be anywhere near the same extremes as PS/Xbox. I could see prices at the end of 2027 being something like the following judging by current trajectories of price increases:

• $550 - Switch 2
• $800 - 512GB Series S (1TB model gets discontinued)
• $1100 - PS5/Series X (disc models get discontinued)
• $1500 - PS6/Helix (requires standalone purchase of disc drive for PS6, no disc drive at all for Helix)

I think what will happen is both Sony and Microsoft release next gen in November 2027 at obscene prices and then at some point supporting Switch 2 becomes a priority for both companies as Nintendo's the only platform holder that's actively trying to keep hardware pricing affordable.

@somnambulance Between the complete silence about the game itself and this mess regarding the boxed copy, I'm kind of getting the feeling it's going to be the next Cyberpunk 2020 launch.

The big difference being boxed copy being code in box and the GTA+ subscription preorder bonus sounds like all refund requests would be void if GTA6 is a buggy mess at launch.

I don't think we'll get a Laufey release date announcement until after we know when GTA Online 2 is coming out.

A new Lego racing game perhaps?

Really grim future ahead. $80 game that's a code in box and puts you into an auto-renewal subscription (GTA+) which will trick lots of unsuspecting players.

All while other companies choose to copy Rockstar because GTA6 will no doubt sell insanely well.

I wonder what Atlus were thinking when they chose to time Metaphor's Switch 2 release a week before GTA6. Surely they'd want the game to also do well on Switch 2 but that timing is very questionable?

If these are the actual prices and not just placeholders, it makes me think the situation is:

• RS1 - Single player
• RS2 - Single player + Steelbook
• RS3 - Single player + GTA Online 2
• RS4 - Single player + GTA Online 2 + Steelbook
• RS5 - Collectors edition

The PS store page says "online play required" which suggests you can't even play the game offline solo.

@Oram77 I think Capcom will pair RE9 DLC announcement with the release date for the Leon and Grace amiibo. Currently those amiibo are planned for release in Summer 2026.

@Oram77 I think Capcom's main announcement at Gamescom will be Veronica releasing in February 2027 like how Gamescom 2025 revealed Requiem releasing in February 2026.

Hopefully Rockstar puts the base version at $70 or less. If they follow Nintendo (Mario Kart World) into $80 territory then that's a very bad sign for the future of game pricing as other studios will follow.

I think it's because of PS6. If PS6 truly is releasing in Holiday 2027, that means they'll do their usual "Road to PS6" presentation around February which would clash with Laufey's marketing.

Their approach for FFVII is the only thing that makes me think 2027 is possible:

• January 22nd 2026 - FFVII Remake
• June 3rd 2026 - FFVII Rebirth
• Spring 2027 - FFVII Revelation

Revelation is around 9-12 months after the Switch 2 release of Rebirth. Allows you a good amount of time to play the first 2 parts with the 3rd part not being too far away.

So if you were to use a similar approach to Kingdom Hearts, maybe it's a PS6 launch day game? Though I'd be leaning more towards early 2028 for KH4.

So Sony has Sonic out earlier perhaps to hype up an upcoming Sonic Central stream (with the mystery of the Frontiers for Switch 2 rating still unsolved, SEGA's likely got a stream around Sonic's birthday) and then the rest is later than normal because Sony wants all attention on FF16?

Wouldn't it have more likely been FH6? FH6 on PS5 and Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2 are the only currently announced 2026 Xbox games that don't have release dates.

SoP > SGF > Xbox Showcase

All 3 were good showcases but I disliked SGF having ads interrupting game trailers and ending with CoD sucks all the energy out of Xbox showcases.

@AdamNovice Maybe it appears in the next Direct considering Bridge of Spirits came to Switch 2 back in March?

Perhaps a backup situation:

• If GTA6 stays on track for November then early 2027
• If GTA6 gets delayed to 2027 then November 2026

When compared to the Alan Wake 2 situation (permanent EGS exclusive), this Control Resonant situation is by far the lesser of evils.

As Sony considers June 2nd to be Spring, they're using astronomical definitions of seasons. So I think the Phantom Blade 0 SoP will take place in early September.

It was a very good SoP. Nice to see a clearer picture of what 2026 looks like though late September/early October is a bit too packed.

On a side note, Laufey having no release window but getting 20 minutes of gameplay was odd. Maybe they're saving the release date for Summer Game Fest like what happened with Spider-Man 2 in 2023?

@get2sammyb My guess is they want to release it on October 23rd in connection to the 1996 game's 30th anniversary on October 25th but because of MW4 and GTA6, it gets delayed to February 12th 2027 in connection to Lara's birthday on February 14th.

This disclaimer was present on the original announcement for the monitor back in November:

0:07 in the video.

I like that Sony did the hardware stuff now (monitor release date, fight stick release date, speakers release window) so that the SoP can be even more focused on games.

@LogicStrikesAgain How far they've gone was why I used the term infamous. It's only been 3.5 months since that comment and already they've massively price hiked PS5 consoles, increased the price of PS+ as well as there also being the dynamic pricing situation with the PS store.

This will be the first PS Studios game to have a price revealed after the infamous "monetise the installed base" comment back in February, hopefully Sony won't fall into the trap of $80+ base games.

The Xbox showcase already is rather inaccurate regarding platform logos because Nintendo likes to save 3rd party announcements from other events for their own events.

I wouldn't be surprised for example if a DLC segment on DOOM The Dark Ages at the Xbox showcase happens with logos only showing Xbox on PC/Series X|S/Steam/PS5 but then a Nintendo Direct happens later in the month ends up revealing the game and its DLC for Switch 2.

I do think this State of Play will be the most viewed because of people hoping for GTA6 trailer 3.

@UltimateOtaku91 I'm not expecting DQ12 at a Direct either. I think they'll spread the big 3's marketing cycles out enough (Remake Part 3, DQ12 and KH4) that all 3 get their time in the spotlight. So like if Remake Part 3 releases in 2027 then DQ12 is 2028 or 2029 (KH4 takes the other year).

@RoomWithaMoose I'd imagine a PS5 port would come alongside other versions. A Series X|S port as Square Enix is supporting Xbox more nowadays and a Switch 2 port as 3rd parties are revisiting their Switch 1 games to release Switch 2 versions with improved performance.

@Fiendish-Beaver Lego Batman is releasing later on in the year on Switch 2 so the stats here are just the PS5 and Series X physical versions. It'll be the same with 007 First Light in the next UK charts article.

Considering how Square Enix talks about multiplatform, I think it would be a suitable time to announce DQ Treasures and DQ Monsters The Dark Prince for PS5.

I think revealing prior to the SoP would work best like what Sony did with Horizon Hunters Gathering and Nintendo did with Everybody 1-2-Switch prior to the June 2023 Nintendo Direct.

But I think Sony could work it that Fairgame$ is timed at such a point in the SoP that backlash about the SoP is minimal. Perfect example is how Marathon appeared in the February 2026 SoP then followed by the PS+ updates, Saros, Marvel Tokon and God of War. Despite Marathon being very divisive back then, people loved that SoP.

@Weebleman I think it could be about Xbox. A common complaint about the past 2 Xbox showcases was about their handling of CoD announcements (Black Ops 6 being the big opener for the 2024 showcase and Black Ops 7 being the big "one more thing" 2025 showcase closer).

Considering how quickly Asha Sharma reacted to the complaints about CoD's role in the Game Pass price hike, perhaps Sony gets the CoD 2026 reveal so Xbox doesn't have to waste time on CoD in the Xbox showcase.

Looks like we won't know the general 2026 lineup beyond September until like August then with summer event season still having vague "Fall 2026" and "2026" release windows. Kind of like what happened with Prime 4 getting its December release date in September last year.

I wonder if Sony's planning on doing this for SoP in general, kind of like how many years ago Nintendo started streaming general Directs (and certain other Directs) live inside the physical Nintendo New York store.

The downside of this approach is that Sony would have to announce SoP weeks in advance everytime they did this instead of the usual 1-2 days before.

I kind of wonder if this is an "Only on Playstation" show on the PS Studios side of things considering the recent article about PC. In this outcome, live service like Marvel Tokon appearing at Summer Game Fest instead of SoP.

@11001100110zero I saw it that the price is the same for new buyers ($30), just in a different form:

• PS5 version = PS4 version ($20) + PS5 upgrade ($10)
• Series X|S version = XB1 version ($30) + Series X|S upgrade (free)

So it looks like THQ used Smart Delivery on Xbox and price increased the XB1 version because Smart Delivery means free current gen upgrade if you own the last gen version.

It's only a price difference if you already own the game on PS4/XB1.

Sounds like a side effect of Xbox's Smart Delivery system.

I think GTA6, Wolverine, Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave and a few indie games. Maybe also Duskbloods considering it's FromSoftware.