We are just one month away from E3 2018, and gamers (myself included) are hungry for new announcements and developments. After the huge success that God of War gave Sony, it will be interesting to see how other exclusives stack up. One thing we’re all wondering is whether Sony will tease the PS5 at this year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo.
Thanks to the PlayStation Blogcast, we have an answer from the Chairman of Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden: Sony does not plan to announce any hardware this year. Despite this, there’s still plenty to talk about.
Sony Has No Hardware Announcements Planned
There was certainly some speculation about a potential PS5 announcement at E3 2018, especially when news broke earlier this year about third-party companies receiving dev kits for the PlayStation 5.
On the PlayStation Blogcast, Sony’s chairman of worldwide studios, Shawn Layden, was asked about potential hardware announcements during Sony’s showcase. His response was the following:
”We’re going to be focusing on all the new content that are coming out…There will be no new hardware announcements at E3 this year.”
For some people, this may come as a disappointment, but there’s a silver lining here. Let’s all remember how Sony officially unveiled the PS4. It wasn’t during an E3 event, it was actually showcased for the first time at a completely separate event dedicated wholly to the announcement.
In February of 2013, Sony held the “See the Future” event in New York, where they invited members of the press to see the future of PlayStation. It was a big event with a lot of hype and speculation behind it.
At the event, they announced the PS4, talked about its specs, and set a release date for holiday 2013. With the success of this event and the PS4 as a whole, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to expect them to do something similar, possibly in early 2019 or 2020.
You could speculate that Sony is doing this as a red herring, but they’ve done this in the past, specifically with PS4 Pro. They tempered expectations around that before it was released, so people wouldn’t expect a hardware announcement at a major event.
While it would be shocking them to say this, and then announce the PS5, it doesn’t seem very likely. We’re still confident that the PS5 won’t be released until 2020.
What Will Sony Show at E3 2018?
During the same podcast, Shawn Layden outlined Sony’s plans for their showcase this year. This was met with some surprise, as Sony typically keeps everything a secret. In an effort to try something new and set expectations, he outlined the four titles that will be focusing on in this year’s conference:
- The Last of Us: Part II
- Death Stranding
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Ghosts of Tsushima
He did say they will have some surprises from third-party publishers and indie developers, so everything isn’t spoiled just yet. Along with Days Gone, I believe these titles will be the swan song for the PS4, so the fact that they are focusing on them this year just proves that they are content with leveraging exclusives until the big announcement.
What are you most excited about for this year’s E3? Did you expect a PS5 announcement? Let us know in the comments!
Article by – Bradley Ramsey
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