Recently, the topic of console exclusives has become a hot topic, what with Microsoft snapping up numerous studios like Double Fine, Obsidian, and Bethesda, and Sony seemingly consolidating their focus on bigger, safer projects. Once the newly-expanded Xbox Game Studios get up to speed, will Microsoft be able to outplay Sony when it comes to exclusives? Not necessarily!
In a new interview with Wired, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst hinted at the scope of what Sony is currently working on, and it seems PS5 owners have a lot to look forward to. According to Hulst, PlayStation Studios has over 25 titles in the works for the PS5. Almost half of these games are new IPs, which will cover a wide gamut, including games that are “big, small, [and from] different genres.”
Of course, a lot of those games are probably still years away. What about the near future? Well, the Wired article seems to reconfirm that Horizon Forbidden West is still on track for 2021 (despite rumors to the contrary). When COVID-19 lockdowns began Horizon Forbidden West was still in a pretty rough state, missing basic things like voice acting and much of its performance capture, but Guerrilla has gone to impressive lengths to get the game done during a pandemic. Recording booths were shipped to actors’ homes, a new motion-capture stage was created in Amsterdam, and testing is being done via the cloud. Hulst, who stepped away from Horizon Forbidden West development to head up PlayStation Studios, recently got to go hands-on with the game and it sounds like he was happy with what he saw…
I spent some time yesterday with Horizon Forbidden West for the first time in seven or eight months. To step away and to come back to it? Talk about giving me a gift.
What are your thoughts on Sony’s upcoming slate of games? Does 25+ sound like a good number? What games do you hope they’re working on?
