Is PlayStation Skipping Big Shows A Mistake?

Is PlayStation making a mistake by skipping Gamescom and other huge events? We weigh in

[MaximusPrime_]

Nope

[Obscure_Observer]

"Nope"

That´s why you getting none. Keep on giving Sony a pass while real Playstation fans are giving them a hard time demanding better.

[Cacabunga]

Given the competition they have why should they waste money on them?

[ChasterMies]

PlayStation is the number 1 selling console. Sony’s marketing strategy is working. Also consider that Microsoft is now a 3rd party publisher. They will go where the other 3rd party publishers go. I’m sure you’ll eventually see Halo in a PlayStation State of Play.

[JackBNimble]

Yeah, why should sony waist money on the fans who keep propping them up no matter what?
Can you imagine if MS was software only, why would sony ever do shows?

[northpaws]

@Obscure_Observer

Out of all humans I know, you are the least qualified one to tell people to stop giving a company they support a pass.

[Cacabunga]

xbox is advertising PS games.

[repsahj]

Lol, as if you guys didn't give MS an unlimited pass for a very, very long time already.

[MrBeatdown]

Demanding better infomercials?

[TheTony316]

Funny coming from you.

[shinoff2183]

Did you have that same energy for Xbox when the droughted you guys for a decade plus? I doubt it

You are right though. Sony has got to give us some sort of gameplan, something, cause Concord, marathon, fairgames, ain't gonna cut it.

[S2Killinit]

@Obscure
You must have amnesia. Do you only remember the MS show and then assume that Sony must immediately respond? Why? Because MS showed a bunch of multiplatform games? Now, Sony must show too? Makes no sense.

Unlike MS, Sony has been releasing exclusive games all along. MS hasnt even released anything yet.

[outsider1624]

"Keep on giving Sony a pass.."

Guys should we tell him?

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

I'm sorry, you expect us to demand better what exactly? Ads? Because you realize that's what these little presentations really are, right? They are a marketing tool, they don't determine what games we get or not, they are only one way of showing 'em off... Marketing is not the product, is what you gotta do to sell the product and, on that front, do you really think Sony is the one in need of your hot take there? Do you see any other console doing better?

Also, considering gaming companies already spend as much in marketing as they do actual development as it is, not making a bigger thing of these events than they absolutely need to be sounds like good business to me. The industry is suffering job cuts left and right, development costs are through the roof and you expect these companies to spend even more on marketing which produces literally nothing tangible for us costumers in the end? Talk about being tone deaf.

[ironmonkey]

hellblade, LOL

[mkis007]

What is worse is showing games that have no release dates. How many games coming out this and next year were announced 3 years or more ago?

If I had 1 console it would be playstation , the track record is unbroken and unsurpassed.

[Zeref]

@ChasterMies

Because console sales are just as important as having games to play? Lol

[S2Killinit]

No because they can have their own shows. In fact, all platform holders abandoned “big shows” until recently that MS has decided to go back. Sony don’t have to follow.

But, I am expecting, and want Sony to show its hand sooner rather than later with a major showing.

[porkChop]

"In fact, all platform holders abandoned “big shows” until recently that MS has decided to go back"

No, they didn't. Sony and Nintendo, yes. Microsoft has consistently held big shows every year. Microsoft started hosting smaller Developer_Direct's but they didn't stop having big shows. They would sometimes skip a trade show here or there if they didn't have anything to show at that point, but they didn't just stop all big shows entirely.

[StormSnooper]

@porkchop
By “big show” you mean 3rd party conferences like E3, Gamescon, etc.

And yes they all abandoned them for the most part. MS was doing their own as well. Also, whether MS was present at “big shows”, they didn’t really make a splash or a big showing for the longest. All platforms sort of abandoned these expensive venues and went in-house for their conferences. Now, MS has decided to change that it seems.

[Notellin]

N4G and the Sony fanboys out in full force today. There isn't a single decent argument down in these comments, just fanboy drivel.

[purple101]

Hmm well for all the talk in these forums, Sony sure does seem like they know what they’re doing

[VenomUK]

‘Is PlayStation Skipping Big Shows A Mistake?’

As hardcore gamers we miss the big shows, but it hasn’t stopped the PS5 sales success. Hosting shows is not a guarantee of success just ask Microsoft.

[Lightning77]

Unless you just sit on here or Twitter playing sales or worried about sales instead of playin games then have fun.

I never expected Sony to show up as they stop going 5 years now but there's a few ways of looking at it.

1 it is frustrating to see Sony not get ppl hyped and excited for its console with a road map. Makes sense.

2 when MS wouldn't show up to Gamescom or TGS sucked at E3 is because they simply didn't have studios to show at any event through out the year. It's not a studio problem for Sony clearly, Hiroki has been transparent and said he's internally delayed their big games to ensure quality. It's as simple as that. Naturally that means we have to wait.

I'm gonna say the same thing I said with Xbox back then, 3rd party rules, nobody will be bored this holiday to next year because most will be playin 3rd party anyway, unless all you do is sweat about exclusives and that's all you play, yeah you're gonna get bored.

Point is, my second summary outweighs my first thought. They're cooking you simply have to wait come SGF next year, I think we'll be blown away.

[Rude-ro]

As hardcore gamers, the mass majority of us saw these shows via streams or a show.

It is a marketing money dump.
That is it.
Do you need to hear an audience react to what you are seeing?

Besides costing Sony a lot of money, the amount leaks attributed to these shows were out of control and ruining all the money dumped into these shows.

Microsoft has been in shows for how long?
Making zero new AAA games.
Lying with scripted demos.
Lying with pc buffed versions of their console games.
Lying about games coming.
Etc etc etc
And yet are still in gaming.
Shows have zero effects.
Positively or negatively to the hardcore gamers.

[isarai]

I mean if they have nothing to show then they have nothing to show. I wish they did have something to show but if they don't why would they attend a Big show? 🤷‍♂️

[dumahim]

They have stuff they can show, they just chose not to.

[NotoriousWhiz]

No point in showing stuff that's 12+ months out. Wait until it's closer to release.

[rakentaja]

They didn't even have anything to show for State of Play and Gamescom is a BIG event.

[isarai]

Not saying it isn't frustrating in fact I've been a forerunner on this site complaining that they're taking forever and questioning why that is. But the fact still stands if they don't then they don't. I mean I highly doubt they're just sitting on completely finished games and trailers to show and just choosing not to show it. If they haven't shown it, It's obviously because it's not in a finished enough state to show.

[Relientk77]

Same articles different year lol

[CrashMania]

I miss Sony presence at big shows, but they've been doing this for years and been doing fine without them.

[gold_drake]

nintendo is missing too this year at gamescom.

so ... ya know.

[neomahi]

Guess no PS5 Pro coming this year after all, eh?

Big Shows like this used to be big deals. Drum up a lot of excitement and build anticipation for the coming year and year to come. State of Play and PlayStation Showcase just don't do that anymore. Xbox is desperately trying to stay relevant in the race, Nintendos still completely comfortable seeing a long viable future in hardware and backing up that confidence by keep first-party software 100% exclusive to their hardware and PlayStation...... They're complacent. They've gotten a good taste of success and it's causing them to make poor decisions and they've lost what made them great with the PS3, desperation. PS3 started out shakey (mostly on the part of ignorance by consumers) but once they got on their feet and flexed first-party muscle, they were gaining serious momentum and a force to be reckoned with. Now? They're unsure of themselves where Nintendo is perfectly comfortable and it's Nintendo that should be worried.

Easily the most stale of console generations. For newer gamers: It used to be a lot better and a lot more exciting than all of this. There were solid games every month, except during the summer there were dry spells but was the time you were seeing E3 and all the other conventions. You were looking forward to the next year as well. It was a totally different time when you were about ready to go crazy with impatience

[VersusDMC]

Why would there be no PS5 pro this year?

PS4pro got announced in Sept and released 2 months later in November.

[JackBNimble]

Yeah, too support psvr because ogps4 wasn't good enough to run psvr the way it was intended,but they wouldn't tell you that until after psvr launched.
But keep supporting Sony bullshit

[Giga_Gaia]

The PS5 Pro doesn't exist. No leaks come from anyone reliable, plus they're all differents. Sad thing is, you guys went through this with the Switch Pro that everyone was so sure was real, yet you're dumb enough to fall for it again.

[Lightning77]

Nintendo is also releasing Mario for a 3rd time in 12 months. Remasters, remakes, retro games, pixel artsy stuff. I don't see anything innovative in Nintendo. Yet they get a pass. If Sony and MS did anything remotely similar to Nintendo's show they'll get crucified immediately. Nintendo's hardware is neat but their games are ps360 quality games releasing the same stuff over, and over again and Nintendo fans jump for joy for a third Mario game. Metroid game that was announced 7 years ago.

[MrBaskerville]

They showed a new zelda game with innovative gameplay? Nintendos current output is high tier.

[Inverno]

After finding out how much you gotta pay to have a trailer show up in game fest and how lousy game fest has been for years id say no. But their state of plays have been pretty lousy too and it makes people think their studios have nothing ready to show. Then again it's like that for every publisher so far this gen.

[Deeeeznuuuts]

I'd say so, I can't remember the last time I saw a playstation show and was blown away, used to happen every year, now it's pretty much never, hope they have at least something planned for this year

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

If they manage to maintain AAA game output for the ps5 comparable to the ps4’s over the next few years, but with the same bump in graphics and such that we’ve seen so far, as all planned by the lack of showcases, then “no”. Because showcases delay games, and AAA games take longer than ever to make.

But if ND, SM, and SP don’t deliver 3 system sellers with their A-Teams before PS6, then the lack of showcases will make people expect showcases for the PS6.

Although, they already seem to have a game planned as a PS6 launch title with Physant by Kojima; so, unfortunately, I think Sony could get away with a light PS5 latter-half output than hoped for; because THAT game will sell systems, no matter what.

At the end of the day, it needs to be said: the lack of showcases was vocally planned by Sony years ago, so don’t act surprised.

[Elda]

For the past 6 years Sony/PS has been tight lipped about their first-party games that they are working on, they only show the public a first-party title when it's close to releasing. Though I understand not showing games off that are several years from releasing but I'm quite sure there are some titles that can be shown off from the studios ND, Sucker Punch & Media Molecule knowing it's been 4 years since they released anything including Housemarque where there last game was released 3 years ago. I remember before their last 2018 E3 every year Sony had no issues showing off games that were still in development, games that were anywhere from a year to several years from releasing, something they don't do anymore. I'm hoping before the year is over they show the public at least 1 or 2 new AAA games that their studios are working on. I know Sony had to have seen XB latest showcase & XB showed off many interesting first-party games that may be releasing next year & some are probably releasing in 2026 as well. I have to say what XB showed off looked quite interesting. In the next year & beyond XB owners have some interesting first-party games to look forward to playing. Sony needs to start the hype train when it comes to their first-party titles.

[GamingSinceForever]

PlayStation? Who is PlayStation? Been so long since they’ve done a big show that I forgot they even existed. Do they still make consoles and games? :/s

[Scissorman]

Hasn't Sony skipped Gamescom since 2019? Maybe even earlier? Whatever Sony is doing is clearly working. The broader market doesn't care about companies making a big splash at some convention. Sony is marching to the beat of its own drum. We got the same discourse when Sony opted out of E3, and look how that turned out.

[maniacmayhem]

If Sony has nothing to show then why be there?

[jznrpg]

A lot of gamers complained that games were shown to early.
So they now wait for most games to announced close to release.
I do think it’s better to not put a release date on games years before then have to delay them.

But now we complain no big shows. Though you can’t have big shows if you are announcing games close to release as they seperate their releases and you only end up with small shows once in a while. If you wanted it the way it was before probably shouldn’t have complained about it.

[Rainbowcookie]

They are dominating so it's giving them time to fine tune games and reveal them closer to release or holiday seasons where you want to shift consoles

[OptimusDK]

They are not skipping. They just dont have anything. Hard truth. They used all resources on live service games that will not see the light, as that has died down really fast

[Einhander1972]

I have seen a million of these articles over the years, guess what, PS5 is the best selling console month after month.

While Microsoft has been spending huge amounts of money to have big shows with big developers and they're in last month after month.

So factually, no.

[Rancegamerx]

Sony will do a big show later this year, probably in August.

[Profchaos]

I think the show could of been improved absolutely the state of play format isn't excitingly anybody adopting a E3 style presentation in a studio inviting the press could be a good way to bring back the showmanship they used to possess. They make movies so it's not that's impossible.

Second would be even if there is nothing to show just let us know what's Como through a 30 second tease like a basic samurai walking out of a buring villiage and the words ghost of Tsushima 2 pop up just so we can stop guessing about 2025

[anast]

No. The shows need them. They don't need the shows.

[TheColbertinator]

That's a valid point. Nintendo has pushed out many great games for Switch but they didn't require E3, TGS, Gamescom or Summer Games Fest to guarantee great experiences for gamers.

[Gameseeker_Frampt]

Why bother going to shows when you have nothing to show? Playstation first-party games have dried up for several years now, with us getting usually just 1 a year. As long as PS5 continues to sell well, Sony has no incentive to make more games and fanboys will continue to defend them.

[DarXyde]

This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

So you think Sony is sitting around not having their studios make games while the staff at studios are collecting salaries? You literally said, "Sony has no incentive to make more games" as if they're not.

They are. It is literally their biggest studios that we haven't heard from in a while and they've already said ages ago that they'd rather not announce too far a head as they did in the earlier days of PS4. Sounds to me like they're still cooking.

And honestly, if they're taking their time to craft these games, I don't get the criticisms here. Is there nothing to play on PS5? Did I imagine Infinite Wealth, Persona 3 Reload, Rise of the Ronin, Final Fantasy VII ReBirth, Tekken 8, and Stellar Blade? There's plenty to play on PlayStation.

It's not about blind defense, but very basic logic. Why would you keep a studio that's not producing content?

I'd love to get my hands on these games sooner, but if waiting means the end product is better, I'm all for that. I didn't complain about Metroid Prime 4 taking so long either: I'll play them when they're ready. In the meantime, there's plenty to play.

[Gameseeker_Frampt]

If the best thing you have to play of your PS5 is games made by non-Sony studios, why does Sony need to own 16+ game studios? Why do you even need to have a PS5, when most of the game you listed are available to play on PC - or will be given Sony's recent track record. You can play those games and not have to pay $80 year for online.

I'm tired of hearing "they just don't want to announce too early." That's just the new version for "wait for E3." Since 2022, defenders have been saying that and yet all we have since then for first-party games is another Spider-man and Astrobot. I didn't buy a Playstation so that I could just play a game that Sony bought exclusivity for. If I wanted that, I'd have just got an XBox.

[DarXyde]

Gameseeker_Frampt,

"If the best thing you have to play of your PS5 is games made by non-Sony studios, why does Sony need to own 16+ game studios?"

Again, it's not that they're not making games. No employer would be thrilled to see their staff sitting around with their thumbs up their arses. At that point, you're more likely to close them for being a drag on resources.

"Why do you even need to have a PS5, when most of the game you listed are available to play on PC - or will be given Sony's recent track record. You can play those games and not have to pay $80 year for online."

I suppose that depends. There's a good case to wait for the PC versions and I don't dispute that. But we're moving the conversation away from "these studios aren't doing anything" to "why do we need PS5?" Entertaining this briefly, the obvious answer is consoles are more accessible as gaming devices than PC. If the immediacy of games matters, that is another consideration (and, as I see it, not every game is available). Everyone's reason differs. I don't even have Plus since the price hikes.

"Since 2022, defenders have been saying that and yet all we have since then for first-party games is another Spider-man and Astrobot."

I have to push back on this framing. Is it really about defending Sony? I can't speak for everyone, but my position doesn't come from a place of defending them. It comes from an understanding that people demand a lot from these studios: something that is technically, visually, and narratively impressive, while being fun and not broken. That is no small undertaking as games become more complex. It's not about defense, it is expectations and reality. In Naughty Dog's case, they did cancel an entire project. I'm not surprised to see them falling behind and relying on re-releases.

" I didn't buy a Playstation so that I could just play a game that Sony bought exclusivity for. If I wanted that, I'd have just got an XBox."

So I guess my question here is what will you do about it? I stopped paying for Plus because I wasn't happy with Sony's increase. You could sell your PlayStation, get a PC, and be done with it. I wouldn't even say that's a bad idea of you've got the funds for it.

You're still going to have to wait for those games to be made though, but you'll have access to both Playstation and Xbox games without concern.

[bleedsoe9mm]

Remember when Sony had to work for your money....good ole days

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Yes.

[Asterphoenix]

Well I forgot the last one they attended. So yeah lol. As usual it's something for someone to talk about

[Good-Smurf]

I don't know why some find it so hard to understand, if they're not ready to show something they won't show it, not in their own event so forget about them attending Gamescom and any of these 3rd party trade shows, why be there got booed when they're have nothing ready to show and spent millions set up shops there?
Let Xbox with their Windows money attend ever since after that showcase, why does we have to be in this narrative of "Sony have to do this and that like Microsoft or else."?
Microsoft had the most livestream events and attend the most shows all year, but it certainly doesn't guarantee a success.

[dveio]

It's making me a bit angry that (a loud minority?) of people just can't wait.

As a publisher, Sony's released some very well received PS5 exclusive games this year already. And on the 2024's horizon are games like Astro, Until Dawn, etc.

Every 1st and 2nd party release over the last 10 years seem to be forgotten about, despite Sony having had the honor of delivering two officially praised Games of the Year within that period and three additional Game of the Year nominees, which is remarkable.

Sony's done a lot of shady things lately, sadly. They really need to watch out to not get too cocky again.

But in terms of games and quality, Playstation has been the go-to-brand over the last decade and above.

Not that long ago, Cory Barlog tweeted something like "I have the privilege to work with amazingly talented people. Finally, the things we've been working on just came together. What a great moment that is!"

As soon as 2025 comes, Sony's 1st party studios will get our attention back.

I really wished we could just be patient and have a common sense that their 1st party titles take time to be shown to the public.

Missing gamescom is nothing but the commitment to work on their stuff.

And I am quite certain about the fact that the latter half of the PS5's lifecycle is going to be nothing but incredible. Kicking of with 2nd party titles such as Death Stranding 2, then probably followed by GTA6.

And followed up by at least one (additional) PS5 exclusive from Naughty, Monica, Sucker Punch, Guerilla, Bluepoint and all the others.

We are in for a treat here. I can already smell it.

[PhillyDonJawn]

No, they don't have much to show so why would they be there? Them missing shows haven't hurt sales but it do suck for us gamers. Seeing a lineup of upcoming games always get you hyped.

[redrum06]

I've played through Ghost of Tsushima, God of War 1 & 2, Gran Turismo, Horizon Zero Dawn, Last Of Us 1 & 2. Those are all considerably older games right now. Where are the new exclusives at?

[purple101]

Try ratchet and clank?

[redrum06]

Also finished that as well!

[purple101]

well, you only got sack boys adventures, & the Spider mans left!. then maybe go back top Gt7, and il hopefully catch you in a game!