In 2022, PlayStation had a fantastic mix of critical hits, blockbusters, and indie favorites, thanks to the releases of God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, and Stray. This pattern will continue over the next 12 months as Sony will try to expand its growing library of great games. With many new features on the horizon, as well as an imminent move to virtual reality, a very busy 2023 awaits PlayStation.
Games of all shapes and sizes
Horizon Forbidden West was one of the biggest hits on PlayStation in 2022 and is back for more in 2023. The DLC Burning Shores arrives April 19 and takes Aloy to the flooded volcanic ruins of Los Angeles. If Zero Dawn’s expansion, The Frozen Wilds, is any indication of what’s to come, we’re in for a hefty, action-packed addition to Horizon’s story.
The prophesied, exclusive to PS5 consoles, launches on January 24. Square Enix’s action RPG is a modern take on the classic Alice in Wonderland tale, in which New Yorker Frey finds herself in a fantastical world filled with magic, dragons, and demons.
Almost six years after the last main game, Final Fantasy XVI launches exclusively for PS5 on June 22. It’s a return to the roots of the high fantasy saga, but that doesn’t mean a return to turn-based combat, as fast-paced action takes center stage, with Ryota Suzuki of Devil May Cry V and Dragon’s Dogma leading the charge as combat manager.
Final Fantasy XVI launches exclusively for PS5 on June 22
Speaking of top-notch combat, it doesn’t get any more satisfying than Insomniac’s Spidey games. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a PlayStation 5 exclusive which will arrive in 2023. Rumors suggest that both Peter Parker and Miles Morales will be playable, in addition to the introduction of Venom. It all points in a very exciting direction, as the studio has confirmed that the game will be out in late 2023.
Marvel and Insomniac are also working together on Wolverine, but we’re not convinced it’s coming out in 2023. We’ve only seen a 50-second teaser so far, but you never know…
Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 Remake is a PS5 exclusive that has been 21 years in the making. Although no release date has been announced, rumors about this Unreal 5-based thriller have been circulating for years, and combined with the lengthy trailer released earlier this year, we’re sure we’ll be back at Silent Hill in 2023.
And while Hideo Kojima won’t be returning to Silent Hill any time soon, he will be with Death Stranding 2, which was recently announced at The Game Awards. Who knows when we will play it, but what we are sure of is that it will be strange, beautiful and different from everything else.
Another PS5 exclusive we know something about is the Korean stunt action game Stellar Blade, formerly known as Project Eve. With a release scheduled for 2023 and some reminiscences of Nier, it is one of the games that we will not lose sight of.
There are also dozens of indies to watch out for
of course, also there are dozens of indie games to watch out for, as Sony continues its mission of showcasing games from all genres and developers. There are too many to list, but standouts include the tropical open world of Tchia, the narrative adventure Goodbye Volcano High, and Season: A Letter to the Future, a bicycling journey through a world on the brink of cataclysm.
As to los first parties de SonyWe don’t really know what many of the PlayStation studios are up to. On the one hand, it’s exciting (it could lead to some big reveals in the summer), but on the other, what’s cooking is most likely years away. At least we have a rough idea of what Naughty Dog is working on, with the next The Last of Us multiplayer game coming at some point. But very few details are known, aside from Neil Druckman saying it’s “as big as any of our single-player games” and a snippet of concept art suggesting it takes place in San Francisco.
What we do know is that we will see the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie when it premieres on January 15. David Harbor and Orlando Bloom will star in the film Gran Turismo, directed by Neil Blomkamp, as PlayStation Productions looks to broaden its horizons after Uncharted. Work is also being done on Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, Gravity Rush y Jak and Daxteras well as in Twisted Metal, God of War and Horizon TV seriesalthough it is unlikely that they will be released in 2023.
Of course, there are also third-party studios and the bunch of non-exclusive games coming to PS5 in 2023, such as Dead Space Remake, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Hogwarts Legacy, Street Fighter 6, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Diablo IV, and Armored Core VI, to name a few. Of course, there will be no shortage of things to play in 2023.
New year, new technology
PlayStation 4 Slim and PlayStation 4 Pro came out just three years after the original PS4 was released. At the end of 2023 we will have reached that period for PS5, so it may not be entirely ruled out that we see a new edition of PlayStation 5 sometime in the next 12 months. A slimmer version wouldn’t hurt at all for those who can’t fit the current one under the TV. However, with PS5s becoming more common on store shelves, Sony may continue to focus on ensuring a steady supply of its base models, rather than working to release a new version.
What we do know is that PSVR2 is on the way. Sony’s second bet on virtual reality will reach the hands of players on February 22. Packed with impressive technology, there’s optimism that it can cause the stir in the virtual world that its predecessor failed to.
Offering 4K HDR VR, it has a 110-degree field of view with an OLED display, inside-out tracking via on-device cameras, and new Sense technology that combines eye tracking, helmet feedback, and 3D audio. PSVR2 also includes a built-in engine that provides the user with physical feedback. In our preview after getting a taste of it, we said that “PlayStation VR2 thankfully brings things up to par. Full-scale VR is on offer here thanks to inside-out tracking and the controllers live up to the latest from Meta.”
Although the PSVR2’s specs rival those of the Oculus Quest 2 and Valve Index, it’s still a wired device and requires a PlayStation 5 to use. With a high price of 599.99 eurosIn addition to the cost of owning a PS5, the range of games can be a deciding factor for potential buyers.
PSVR2 will launch with more than 20 games, including Horizon: Call of the Mountain, a standalone VR adventure that takes place in the post-apocalyptic world filled with mechanical beasts that Guerilla has created. It will be joined by the likes of No Man’s Sky and The Dark Pictures: Switchback, an on-rails shooter spin-off from the horror saga. VR versions of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village are also coming. Though he’s yet to see the success of Sony’s next foray into virtual reality, its strong roster of first-party games and big-name exclusives can only help his cause.
With a ton of games, a new era of PlayStation VR, and much more, Sony looks set to build on the success of 2022. What excites you the most?
