Sony try to disrupt Nintendo Switch 2 launch with surprise PS5 State of Play
You'd think with the Nintendo Switch 2 launching in just a couple of days, other companies would wait for the hype to die down before pushing their own games.
So, it's genuinely shocking to see Sony not just announce a new PlayStation 5 showcase for this week, but schedule it for Wednesday, June 4 – the night right before the Switch 2 launches.
It's very clearly been done on purpose, in an act of antagonism that is very unlike Sony in the modern era, and harkens back to the bad old days of their PlayStation 1 and 2 rivalries.
As is often the case for Sony's State of Play events, those of us in the UK will need to stay up until 10pm BST to watch it, with the showcase set to last approximately 40 minutes.
There was talk of Sony having something planned for June, with rumours pointing to it being one of these smaller scale State of Plays rather than a larger E3 style showcase.
40 minutes is a decent amount of time for a flurry of game reveals, but past experience points to them mostly being from third parties rather than Sony's in-house studios.
The last State of Play from February was actually very good though, after a string of disappointing presentations, with highlights including the announcement of Returnal successor Saros and a trailer for the new Onimusha game from Capcom.
As for what could be shown at this week's showcase, it's anyone's guess. It could be new footage for Ghost Of Yōtei, since that's out this October, or an update on one of Sony's live service projects like Marathon or Fairgame$.
Maybe Sony will give the people what they want and announce a new God Of War; something that has been rumoured for several years now.
Whatever the case, it's hard to imagine Sony having anything that will be significantly more exciting than the launch of a new Nintendo console. More Trending
While the two companies are competitors at the end of the day, we can't help but find the timing of this showcase is disrespectful on Sony's part. What's for certain is that it isn't accidental.
It's also wildly pointless since no one's going to cancel their Switch 2 pre-orders at the last minute to save their money for a PlayStation 5 or whatever new exclusives are announced.
Plus, a significant chunk of the viewing audience will want to own both consoles anyway.
That is unless Sony has some monumental announcement planned, that is going to change the status quo, but if that was the case they almost certainly would've made it a full showcase and not just a State of Play.
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