PlayStation had a fantastic mix of critical, best-selling and indie favorites in 2022 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 looks to add to its growing library of great games. With plenty of excitement on the horizon and a next step into virtual reality imminent, PlayStation looks set to be a busy 2023.
Games of all shapes and sizes
Horizon Forbidden West was one of the biggest PlayStation hits of 2022 and is coming back with more in 2023. Coming April 19th, the Burning Shores DLC takes Aloy to the submerged volcanic ruins of Los Angeles. Looking at Zero Dawn’s expansion, The Frozen Wilds, we’re in for a handsome and action-packed addition to the Horizon story.
Out on PS5 exclusive Forspoken on January 24th, Square Enix’s action role-playing game is a modern take on the classic Alice in Wonderland story that sees New Yorker Frey in a fantastical world of magic, dragons and demons.
Almost six years after the last mainline game, Final Fantasy XVI arrives exclusively on PS5 on June 22nd. It’s a return to the series’ high-fantasy roots, but that doesn’t mean a return of turn-based combat, as fast-paced action takes center stage as Devil May Cry 5 and Dragon’s Dogma’s Ryota Suzuki take the reins as Combat Director keep.
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Speaking of top-notch combat, it doesn’t get much more satisfying than Insomniac’s Spidey games. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is exclusive to PlayStation 5 and will hit our screens in 2023. With rumors of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales being playable, as well as the launch of Venom, everything points in a very exciting direction, with the studio confirming a delayed 2023 release window.
Marvel and Insomniac are also collaborating on Wolverine, but we’re not convinced it’ll be released 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 21-year remake. While no release date has been announced, rumors of this Unreal 5-powered thriller have been floating around for years, and together with the lengthy trailer that was released earlier this year, we’re confident that we’ll be returning to Silent Hill in 2023.
And while Hideo Kojima won’t be returning to Silent Hill any time soon, he will be back with Death Stranding 2, which was recently announced at The Game Awards. Who really knows when we’ll be playing this, but we’re pretty sure it’ll be weird, beautiful, and unlike anything else.
Another PS5 exclusive we know of is Korean acrobatic action game Stellar Blade, formerly known as Project Eve. Aiming for a 2023 release and with some Nier vibes, we’ll certainly keep this on our radar.
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Of course, there are also dozens of indies to look out for as Sony continues its mission of showcasing games of all genres and developers. There are too many to list, but highlights include the tropical open world of Tchia, the narrative adventure Goodbye Volcano High, and Season: A Letter to the Future, a bike road trip through a world on the brink of disaster.
As for Sony’s early parties, we don’t really have a clue as to what many of PlayStation Studios are up to. On one hand it’s exciting – it could make for some big revelations over the summer – but on the other hand it’s likely that what’s cooking is still years away. We have at least a vague idea of what Naughty Dog is working on, with the upcoming multiplayer game Last of Us coming at some point. But very few details are known, other than Neil Druckman saying it’s “as big as any of our single-player games” and a piece of concept art suggesting it’s taking place in San Francisco.
One thing we do know is that we’ll be watching HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, when it opens January 15th. It’s not the only Sony game getting the live-action treatment, either, as David Harbor and Orlando Bloom will star in Neil Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo film, while PlayStation Productions looks to spread its wings further after 2022’s Uncharted. Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, Gravity Rush, and Jak and Daxter are also in the works, as are TV series for Twisted Metal, God of War, and Horizon, but these likely won’t be out in 2023.
Of course, there are also the third-party studios and a number of non-exclusive games coming to PS5 in 2023, including Dead Space Remake, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Hogwarts Legacy, Street Fighter 6, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Diablo 4 AND Armored Core 6 to name a few. There will certainly be no shortage of gaming opportunities in 2023.
New year, new technology
The PlayStation 4 Slim and Pro were released just three years after the original PS4 was launched. By the end of 2023 we’ll have reached that timeframe for PS5, so it might not be entirely out of the question that we could see a new installment of the PlayStation 5 at some point in the next 12 months. A slim version certainly wouldn’t go amiss for those struggling to fit the current version under their TV. However, with PS5s only now becoming a regular sight on store shelves, Sony’s focus may still be on ensuring a steady supply of its base models is produced, rather than working to launch a new version.
One thing we know is on the way is PSVR2. Sony’s second foray into virtual reality will be in gamers’ hands and strapped to their heads as early as February 22nd. Packed with impressive technology, there’s optimism it could make a splash in the virtual world where its predecessor couldn’t.
It offers VR in 4K HDR and features a 110-degree field of view with an OLED display, inside-out tracking with cameras built into the VR headset, and new Sense technology that combines eye-tracking, headset feedback, and 3D -Audio combined. PSVR2 also includes a built-in motor that provides physical feedback to the wearer. In our hands-on preview, we said, “Fortunately, PlayStation VR2 brings things evenly. Room-scale VR is offered here thanks to inside-out headset-based tracking, and the controllers feel on par with Meta’s latest.”
While PSVR2’s specs rival those of Oculus Quest 2 and Valve Index, it’s still a wired headset and requires a PlayStation 5 to use. With a hefty price tag of $549.99 / £529.99 on top of the cost of owning a PS5, the range of games could prove to be a big deciding factor for potential buyers.
PSVR2 is set to launch with over 20 games, including Horizon: Call of the Mountain – a standalone VR adventure set in the post-post-apocalyptic world filled with mechanical beasts created by guerrilla. They are joined by No Man’s Sky and The Dark Pictures: Switchback, an on-rail shooter spin-off of the horror series. VR versions of the original Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village are also coming. While the success of Sony’s next virtual reality immersion remains to be seen, its strong list of first-party showcases and big-name exclusives can only help its cause.
With plenty of games to play, a new era of PlayStation VR, and more, Sony seems to be building on the successes of 2022. What are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments.
Simon Cardy can’t wait to get trampled on by a Thunderjaw in VR. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.
